City of Philadelphia - File #: 020154

• File #: 020154
• Version: 0
• Type: Resolution
• Status: ADOPTED
• File created: 3/7/2002
• In control: Committee of the Whole
• Title: Authorizing the Committee of the Whole to conduct public hearings on the City's economic strategies including an investigation of the City's current tax schemes and structures; an examination of the City's revenue growth; and an assessment of the City's economic stimulus plans.
• Sponsors: Councilmember Blackwell, Councilmember Blackwell, Councilmember Krajewski, Councilmember Krajewski, Councilmember Mariano, Councilmember Mariano, Councilmember Goode, Councilmember Goode, Council President Verna, Council President Verna, Councilmember Reynolds Brown, Councilmember Reynolds Brown, Councilmember Tasco, Councilmember Tasco, Councilmember Ortiz, Councilmember Ortiz, Councilmember Cohen, Councilmember Cohen, Councilmember Clarke, Councilmember Clarke, Councilmember Rizzo, Councilmember Rizzo, Councilmember Nutter, Councilmember Nutter, Councilmember Miller, Councilmember Miller, Councilmember O'Neill, Councilmember O'Neill, Councilmember Longstreth, Councilmember Longstreth
• Indexes: TAXES

Date	Ver.	Action By	Action	Result	Tally
3/7/2002	0	CITY COUNCIL	ADOPTED & REFERRED
3/7/2002	0	CITY COUNCIL	ADOPTED & REFERRED
3/7/2002	0	CITY COUNCIL	Introduced	Pass
3/7/2002	0	CITY COUNCIL	Introduced	Pass

Title
Authorizing the Committee of the Whole to conduct public hearings on the City's economic strategies including an investigation of the City's current tax schemes and structures; an examination of the City's revenue growth; and an assessment of the City's economic stimulus plans.
Body
WHEREAS, Since 1995, the City has incrementally lowered the tax burden to encourage business growth by reducing the Wage Tax paid by City residents from 4.96% to 4.5385% and reducing the Wage Tax paid by non-residents from 4.3125% to 3.9462%, representing an overall reduction of 8.5%; and by reducing the Gross Receipts portion of the Business Privilege Tax from .325% in 1995 to .240% in 2002, a reduction of 26.15% in the Gross Receipts Tax; and

WHEREAS, The City has provided a series of real estate tax abatements to encourage industrial, commercial and residential development including a ten-year abatement of the increase in real estate taxes attributable to improvements to new or existing commercial, industrial or other business properties to encourage additional business investment in the City as authorized by the City in 2000; and a ten-year abatement from Real Estate Taxes on improvements to convert deteriorated industrial, commercial or other business property to commercial residential use as authorized by the City in 1997; and

WHEREAS, Since 1995, the City has created twenty-five Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts that allow a portion of certain taxes generated by new developments in such TIF districts to be used to support debt service of the targeted developments; TIF financing has been used to retain and expand corporate centers like the PNC Operations Center in Eastwick and the Glaxo SmithKline headquarters in Center City; to facilitate the growth of the hospitality industry by financing the Loews Philadelphia Hotel in the former PSFS building, The Marriott Courtyard Hotel in the former City Hall Annex and the Marriott Hotel expansion in the Reading Term...