City voters will be asked to answer "yes" to the following question if the city is successful in getting it on the ballot for the Nov. 4 election: "Do you favor eliminating the occupation tax by increasing the rate of the City of Lancaster earned income tax from .50 percent to a new city maximum rate of .60 percent, and a maximum new total tax rate, together with the school district, of 1.10 percent effective January 1, 2004?"

Smithgall said the occupation tax is blind to different pay scales for jobs that have similar names.

"It's based on probable income," Smithgall said. "For example, if one lawyer makes $100,000 a year and another, due to the nature of his work, makes $30,000 a year, they are still assessed at the same rate."

Carol Roland, the city's chief financial officer, said each job is assessed a certain value by the county assessor's office. The tax for that job amounts to 12.5 percent of whatever the assigned value is.

Roland also said the tax is "very subjective" because two companies may have different names for the same job, which makes the assessment more difficult. If a job title doesn't exactly match the list of assessed jobs, city employees must look over the job description and determine where it best fits.

The tax law also doesn't discriminate between full- and part-time workers. The tax is assessed on job title, not hours worked.

"It's basically a nuisance tax," Roland said.

It's also been around longer than any one can remember, and the city thinks it's time for it to be scrapped.

"It just isn't a fair way to tax," Smithgall said. "The earned income tax is more equitable because it's based on what you actually make."

Currently, the earned income tax is 1 percent, which is divided equally between the city and School District of Lancaster. If the tax is increased to 1.10 percent, the city will get .6 percent and the school district .5 percent.

Whether or not the tax is repealed, Roland said, is up to the voters of Lancaster.

"The voters have to repeal it,"Roland said. "We will be holding public hearings to authorize a referendum to repeal."

Roland said Solanco and Warwick school districts eliminated the same tax last year.

To advertise its intentions, the city has begun placing classified ads in Lancaster newspapers outlining its plan. The ads will run on June 2, 9 and 16.

On June 24, City Council will hold a public hearing. Two weeks later, on July 8, council will consider a resolution authorizing the ballot referendum.

If the Nov. 4 referendum is successful, City Council will then consider an ordinance to repeal the occupation assessment tax, and increase the earned income tax.

For more information, residents are asked to visit the city's Web site at www.cityoflancasterpa.com.