Updated: To include additional information
Philadelphia homeowners can now apply for a Homestead exemption that would provide some relief to those who could be hit hard under Mayor Nutter’s plan to move to a new property-tax system based on market values.
Meanwhile, state lawmakers are still considering legislation needed to provide a Philadelphia homestead exemption. Nutter said Friday during a City Hall press conference that Philadelphia was excluded from the law when it was enacted in 1997, but he is hopeful state legislators will come through.
“I have yet to meet an elected official who wasn’t interested in helping constituents save money,” Nutter said.
Homeowners can apply until July 31. Primary residences of all homeowners are eligible regardless of age or income.
Fill out the application here. For additional information go to the city's website. Completed applications can be mailed to the Office of Property Assessment.
The School Reform Commission adopted a $2.5 billion 2012-13 budget that no one likes. Some schools will be without fulltime nurses and police officers and it anticipates new funding from the city.
The budget debate in City Council continues but, sources say support may be growing for a plan that could include Mayor Nutter’s controversial tax proposal and a proposal from Council president Darrell Clarke.
Meanwhile in New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has proposed a ban on sugary drinks that exceed 16 ounces. The ban would apply to restaurants, movie theaters and sports venues. Stu Bykofsky is none-too-thrilled. But Jenice Armstrong says the ban is a good idea.
So is District Attorney Seth Williams a Carrie? Or more of a Miranda?
You can find out at his “Seth and the City” fundraiser next Wednesday night at Two Liberty Place. The invite we got to the black tie optional affair says “Ladies, Dress like a star & put on your sexiest shoes!”
Ticket prices range from $50 to $500 and there’ll be signature cocktails at the ready. We hope they’ll have cosmos!
Williams said the event – in its third year – was a fun night out for friends and supporters. “You have to have some events that are fun and people look forward to,” he said.
Sure Sex and the City is a dated cultural reference, but we guess it wouldn’t be quite the same to have a Girls or Game of Thrones themed fundraiser. Certainly wouldn’t get the same class of shoes. And we should note for the record that Mayor Nutter is a well documented SATC fan and attended the Philly premieres of both films.
Asked which SATC character he liked the best, Williams joked “ Mr. Big, I suppose.”
In her honor, City Council yesterday renamed the Criminal Justice Center after the late Justice Juanita Kidd Stout.
Stout was the first African-American woman elected to a court of record in the U.S., the first to sit on the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and the first appointed to the state Supreme Court.
The bill passed 16-0, Councilman Bill Green was absent. The renaming followed years of political haggling. The new name of the Criminal Justice Center on Filbert Street near 13th will be the “Justice Juanita Kidd Stout Center for Criminal Justice.”
The Philadelphia Bar Association passed a resolution to rename the building after Stout died in 1998 at 79. Hailing from Oklahoma, Stout received her law degree from Indiana University and arrived here in the early 1950s. She worked for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge William H. Hastie and in the District Attorney’s Office before winning a seat on Municipal Court in 1959.
This property tax debate is getting really nasty.
Mayor Nutter today held a press conference with State Sen. Tony Williams, calling on state lawmakers to support enabling legislation he needs for his property tax plan, known as the Actual Value Initiative (AVI), which would calculate tax bills using properties’ market values. Both pols said the city needs AVI to happen, both to make the property tax system more equitable and to get the $94 million in additional revenue Nutter wants for the schools.
But Williams mostly used the platform to hammer Philadelphia elected officials for not uniformly supporting AVI.
“Harrisburg is watching us. Those bills were moving through the legislature quite effectively, quite quietly, the governor was prepared to sign them until Philadelphia decided to have its own food fight and some members within our own delegation decided that well, maybe it’s not in our best interest to move forward on this AVI concept,” Williams said.
Williams did not name names, but one state lawmaker who has raised questions on AVI is State Sen. Larry Farnese, who has introduced legislation that would require Council to deal with AVI and schools revenue as separate issues. That would require two separate votes on the issues, which could potentially make it harder to get the revenues.
“I support AVI,” Farnese said. “I don’t understand why Tony Williams isn’t supporting my amendment. It doesn’t preclude them from doing anything. “
Next week the budget process is sure to heat-up as City Council mulls over a number of proposals to raise money for the cash-strapped school district.
Today Clarke said a majority of Council members are interested in raising money for the schools the question remains as to how. Council must pass a budget by June 30.
“I believe there will be additional funding for the school district, how much and in what manner it’s not clear yet,” Clarke said. “Next week I believe that all of the action and legislation before us will start to crystallize into a single budget. This is a very complicated process.”
Mayor Nutter has proposed moving to a new property-tax system based on market values known as the Actual Value Initiative and collect an extra $94 million along the way for schools. Critics have called it a backdoor tax-hike while the Administration has said it is capturing the increase in property values.
Meanwhile some members are considering other ways to raise money including measures to increase the use and occupancy tax which applies to businesses. Furthermore uncertainty about state enabling legislation that would allow the city to adjust the millage rate down and provide a “homestead exemption” to provide relief has complicated matters.
Cheers turned to boos and back to cheers again in City Council today.
Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez sponsored a resolution calling for the School Reform Commission to find a way to prevent the layoffs of 2,700 school district employees and establish a fair contract with blue-collar union SEIU local 32BJ. The resloution also calls for the state to restore critical funding.
The resolution was set to be approved by City Council today, but Quinones-Sanchez wanted to hold the resolution for another week to allow school employees to continue to speak about the issue, but they demanded it be approved.
And after the jeering began, the resolution was amended and approved by Council today.
Six school district workers spoke about their fears of being laid off.
Steve Siebert has worked for the school district in the department of electronic maintenance for 12 years. He has two children that attend Greenfield Elementary including a 10-year-old son that has transverse myelitis –a neurological disorder that causes paralysis from the neck down.
» More In Council it's jeers and cheers from school employees
The New York Times reports today that Mayor Bloomberg plans to ban the sale of large sodas and sugar-sweetened drinks at movie theaters and restaurants.
From the story:
The proposed ban would affect virtually the entire menu of popular sugary drinks found in delis, fast-food franchises and even sports arenas, from energy drinks to pre-sweetened iced teas. The sale of any cup or bottle of sweetened drink larger than 16 fluid ounces — about the size of a medium coffee, and smaller than a common soda bottle — would be prohibited under the first-in-the-nation plan, which could take effect as soon as next March.
For the full report, click here. Basically, sodas sized over 16 ounces would be banned. Mayor Nutter has tried twice to enact a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages in Philadelphia, but both efforts failed to pass City Council after heavy lobbying from the beverage industry.
The Inspector General's Office is trying to figure out why the cash-strapped School District of Philadelphia gave nearly $150,000 to a non-profit that's run by an ex-con.
Friends and family want to know what happened to a local young mother, Franchesca Alvarado.
City Council is cobbling together a tax relief plan for residents in gentrified neighborhoods.
Mayor Nutter's ban on feeding homeless people in city parks goes into effect on Friday.
Attention Mayor Nutter: State Rep. Rosita Youngblood would appreciate a phone call.
At a hearing today in Philadelphia, Youngblood unleashed an angry tirade on members of the Nutter administration, complaining that the mayor never talks to her on casino issues, even though she is the Democratic chairwoman of the House Gaming Oversight Committee.
"The mayor doesn't talk to me for gaming oversight," Youngblood said. "Stop telling us who the mayor talks to because he doesn't talk to us in Harrisburg!"
Finance Director Rob Dubow said the administration has been in Harrisburg regularly since the mayor took office and has made a lot of briefings to the Philadelphia delegation.
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Catherine Lucey joined the Daily News in 2002 and has written about murderous drug gangs, political protesters and Harry Potter. After covering the 2007 mayoral election, she moved over to the City Hall bureau where she has been reporting on the Nutter administration.
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans.
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