Title
Authorizing City Council's Committee on Law and Government to hold public hearings to investigate the establishment, use, and economic impact of Keystone Opportunity, Improvement, and Expansion Zones in Philadelphia, and, toward a remedy, authorizing the issuance of subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents to the full extent authorized under Section 2-401 of the Home Rule Charter.
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WHEREAS, Keystone Opportunity Zones were originally established by an Act of the State Legislature in 1998 to address problems of blight and joblessness by providing incentives in the form of tax abatement to companies that pledged to increase full-time employment 20 percent and make capital improvements within impoverished areas; and
WHEREAS, The original criteria for authorization of a Keystone Opportunity Zone required that at least 20% of the population be below the poverty level, and stringently restricted designation to areas that were severely "deteriorated or underutilized," pursuant to Act 92, Section 304; and
WHEREAS, Subsequent legislation concerning Keystone Opportunity, Improvement, and Expansion Zones ("KOIZ") provided for designation by the Governor through executive order but did not alter the legislative intent and requirement that the Zones specifically address issues of blight and deterioration; and
WHEREAS, On May 6, 2003, the City Director of Commerce presented testimony to the Committee of the Whole projecting that the designation of KOIZs including the site of the Cira Centre at 30th Street would result in new revenue of $11 million annually in wage taxes during construction and $18 million upon completion; and
WHEREAS, Those projections of new revenue contributed to Council's unanimous approval of the designation, and it now appears those dollars will be lost as affluent firms already located within the City take advantage of the tax abatement while failing to create new jobs; and
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