City of Philadelphia - File #: 130093

• File #: 130093
• Version: 0
• Type: Resolution
• Status: ADOPTED
• File created: 2/7/2013
• In control: Committee of the Whole
• Title: Authorizing City Council's Committee of the Whole to investigate and hold public hearings reviewing the system utilized by the City of Philadelphia to collect delinquent real estate taxes, the effectiveness and shortcomings of the existing system, and the new methods and resources proposed by the Administration to increase the collection of delinquent real estate taxes.
• Sponsors: Councilmember O'Brien, Councilmember Johnson, Councilmember Bass, Councilmember Oh, Councilmember Henon, Councilmember Squilla, Councilmember Kenney, Councilmember Jones, Councilmember Goode, Councilmember Tasco, Councilmember Greenlee, Council President Clarke, Councilmember Blackwell, Councilmember Quiñones Sánchez, Councilmember Reynolds Brown

Date	Ver.	Action By	Action	Result	Tally
3/20/2013	0	Committee of the Whole	HEARING NOTICES SENT
3/20/2013	0	Committee of the Whole	HEARING HELD
3/20/2013	0	Committee of the Whole	RECESSED
3/19/2013	0	Committee of the Whole	HEARING NOTICES SENT
3/19/2013	0	Committee of the Whole	HEARING HELD
3/19/2013	0	Committee of the Whole	RECESSED
2/7/2013	0	CITY COUNCIL	Introduced and Ordered Placed on This Week's Final Passage Calendar	Pass
2/7/2013	0	CITY COUNCIL	ADOPTED & REFERRED

Title
Authorizing City Council's Committee of the Whole to investigate and hold public hearings reviewing the system utilized by the City of Philadelphia to collect delinquent real estate taxes, the effectiveness and shortcomings of the existing system, and the new methods and resources proposed by the Administration to increase the collection of delinquent real estate taxes.
Body
WHEREAS, The City of Philadelphia's history of failing to collect the taxes engenders a perception that the tax collection system in Philadelphia is unfair and diminishes the trust that Citizens have in their Government and their neighbors; and

WHEREAS, In 2010, PICA found that Philadelphia ranked 24th out of 25 cities in real estate tax collections; According to many reports, real estate tax delinquency is a problem which has been increasing over time. Estimates of the severity of the problem vary between $248 million to $518 million dollars in uncollected real estate taxes; and

WHEREAS, The failure of the City to collect these revenues has created an instability for our School District, which receives 60-percent of the total real estate tax revenues collected; and

WHEREAS, In anticipation of the City's implementation of the Actual Value Initiative, it is essential that citizens of Philadelphia and City Council have an understanding of the City's tax collection process and procedures and have faith that the system is fair and effective; and

WHEREAS, On February 4, 2013, the Mayor announced that the Administration will "bring the hammer down" on individuals who can actually pay their taxes but choose not to pay and will, therefore, heighten the City's focus on collecting delinquent taxes of all types by instituting measures to more aggressively collect delinquent taxes. This will be accomplished by overhauling technology, expanding tax-payer outreach, increasing enforcement, increasing efficiency, using analytics to determine likeliness to pay, and creating a call...