Not that they would be rooting for the Astros, but the people in Philadelphia’s Revenue Department had at least 90,000 reasons to cheer the arrival this week of the likes of José Altuve, Alex Bregman, Ryan Pressley, and Justin Verlander.
Based on published salary figures and the city’s formula, a conservative estimate is that the Houston Astros players will have kicked in over $90,000 in wage-tax revenues to the city treasury for a four-day visit. Verlander, himself, is pitching in an estimated $15,000 or so of that. That’s about what the average Philadelphia wage earner might pay in taxes on earned income in a 10-year period.
Monday’s rainout was a bonus for the city: It counted as a workday and forced the Astros to stay in town Thursday, and be billed for an extra day.
