Harrisburg residents were hit with a court-mandated income tax increase Monday when a state judge sided with the financial receiver who is managing the city and ordered the City Council to double the earned income tax.

Commonwealth Court Judge Bonnie Brigance Leadbetter said raising the rate from 1 percent to 2 percent was a critical component of the debt-strapped state capital's recovery plan. Someone who earns $50,000 would see a $500 tax increase.

She said courts generally should not intrude into such a legislative task under the separation-of-powers doctrine, but that can be appropriate under "compelling circumstances."

[And you thought that was the exclusive prerogative of the legislative branch per your CONstitution.]