Title
Amending Title 19 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Finance, Taxes, and Collections," and Title 21 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Miscellaneous," by authorizing access to legal representation for certain owners of blighted and deteriorated dwellings and providing for tax forgiveness and exemptions for improvements to certain deteriorated areas and dwellings to incentivize the creation and improvement of affordable housing units, all under certain terms and conditions.
Body
THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA HEREBY ORDAINS:
SECTION 1.
The Council of the City of Philadelphia makes the following legislative findings:
1. In 2008, Governor Ed Rendell signed Act 135, the Abandoned and Blighted Property Conservatorship Act, into law, allowing for neighbors, non-profits, and other affected parties to petition the Court of Common Pleas to appoint a conservator to remediate the blight.
2. In 2014, the Pennsylvania General Assembly amended Act 135 to allow for a conservator to have their legal fees and remediation costs reimbursed for successfully remediating a blighted property and allowed for 20% of the net profit of the out-sale to be awarded to the conservator.
3. Since that time, the use of Act 135 to remediate blight in the City of Philadelphia has not been without challenges, and concerns about the predatory nature of petitions, conservators, and the effect on the surrounding community.
4. While the City of Philadelphia can not amend Act 135, it can utilize the Act to incentivize the development of affordable housing.
5. The Act 135 Diversion Program will provide funding for legal counsel for a natural person, and leverage debt owed to the City paired with an affordable housing unit tax exemption to incentivize petitioners to remediate blighted and abandoned properties into affordable housing units.
SECTION 2. Title 19 of the Philadelphia Code shall be amended to read as follows:
TITLE 19. FINANCE, TAXES, AND COLLECTIONS
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