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Amending Title 19 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled “Finance, Taxes and Collections,” by adding a new Chapter 19-4800, entitled “Automated Services Displacement Tax,” to impose a tax upon certain services performed within the City of Philadelphia by automated devices in place of services formerly performed by human beings, including delivery services and transportation services; all under certain terms and conditions.
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THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA HEREBY ORDAINS:
SECTION 1.
Title 19 of The Philadelphia Code is hereby amended by adding a new Chapter 19-4800, to read as follows:
TITLE 19. FINANCE, TAXES AND COLLECTIONS
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CHAPTER 19-4800. AUTOMATED SERVICES DISPLACEMENT TAX
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§ 19-4801. Legislative Findings and Purpose.
(1) Council finds that delivery, passenger transportation, and other services historically performed in the City by human workers are increasingly being performed by automated devices, including sidewalk delivery robots and highly automated motor vehicles operating without a human driver.
(2) Council finds that the displacement of human labor by automated devices reduces the City’s Wage Tax and Business Income Receipts Tax base, imposes transition costs upon displaced workers and their families, and places new demands upon City streets, sidewalks, curb space, and public safety resources, while the persons deploying such devices derive substantial economic benefit from operating within the City.
(3) The purpose of this Chapter is to impose a tax upon the privilege of performing certain services within the City by means of automated devices in place of human workers, and to generate revenue that Council intends to be used to mitigate the economic and public costs of such displacement.
§ 19-4802. Definitions.
In this Chapter, the following definitions apply:
(1) Automated Device. Any machine, robot, motor vehicle, aircraft, together with any software, artificial intelligence, machine-learning model, sensor ar...
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