City Controller: Philly's tax collection rate is unacceptable
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City Controller: Philly's tax collection rate is unacceptable
Jan Ransom
More needs to be done to collect from tax delinquents.
That was the theme of City Council's second round of hearings Wednesday on tax delinquency --a major topic of concern as the city moves to Actual Value, a new property-tax system based on market values.
"It is unacceptable that Philadelphia ranks near the bottom of major cities in tax collection," City Controller Alan Butkovitz told Council. "It can be done and it must be done."
He and Council members expressed frustration with the Nutter administration's collection rate which an Inquirer series noted is lower than past mayoral administrations.
Councilman Jim Kenney said the Revenue Department and the administration have to have a "will" to change. Revenue Commissioner Keith Richardson defended the city's tax collections strategy during Tuesday's hearing.
Other members questioned whether the city was doing enough to inform Philadelphians about payment plans.
"I don't know that we're doing the best job in making opportunities of payment known to citizens," said Councilman Curtis Jones Jr.
Monty Wilson, an attorney at Community Legal Services said the city needs to establish a law that will require all agencies to provide residents with the same information related to payment plans. He said the information provided to residents often varies.
"The system needs to be fair and consistent: ensuring that homeowners are offered the same opportunity whether they are dealing with the Revenue Department, the Law Department, or the city's co-counsel, the law firms of Linebarger, Goggan, Blair and Sampson or GRB."
big whoop, EVERYTHING in Phila is unacceptable.— patty b- Blah Blah Blah, been hearing this for DECADES, not years...DECADES! Over paid politicians and city government who just punch in and out everyday waiting for their pensions. Here's a newsflash for you Butkovitz....no one in the city believes you will even try to fix it.— JL Barnes
- Lazy reporting. I watched all of today's Council meeting and there were many interesting proposals regarding increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of collecting Philadelphia's delinquent real estate taxes. This is a hot topic. How come the "reporter" didn't include important details regarding these proposals?— Pugh
- Where's NUTT? We found some money he always says he doesn't have.— phillygtown
- I can't believe they even had to had this discussion. You are missing money in your coffers from delinquent payers. So your answer is to raise rates on everybody to cover the gap...so city taxpayers continue to pay more and delinquent payers remain delinquent with higher balances? Bloody brilliant. ::rolls eyes::
This city trips over its own darn feet in nearly every category.— sobjoe24 - Nothing will get done. Apathy in the City Government.. they're busy planning their next vacations. Keep raising taxes.. and voting democrat you union dummies.— Nezhy
- I think this shows that the Revenue department along with every other city worker deserves a big raise retroactive to 2009.
Philly must double its efforts to reward failure if it is to retain its place as the dumbest, poorest, fattest and most unionized big city in America.
— PhillyNetTaxPayer - What is your problem with city workers? Did you fail the test or something?You dont like it? Move. — joshtpa111
- Pick up Nutter's friends first, followed by John Street's and then Ed Rendell's friends. There's probably half a billion tied up with friendly tax cheats that goes uncollected right there.— bad joe s
- Revenue Commissioner Keith Richardson defended the city's tax collections strategy during Tuesday's hearing. Well I guess we know what the first problem is, get rid of this lazy man.— callitlikeiseethem
- I have to agree with the City Controller that tax collection efforts have failed. Now, let's address the problem. Mr. Mayor, your tough talk has been nothing but empty words which delinquent tax payers ignore. Stop raising my taxes, and replace the Revenue Commissioner with someone who will be more aggressive at collecting past due taxes.— JaxAx2Grind
- case in point: 18th and delancy place. She hasn't paid her tax bills in years. The property is in horrid condition yet she received a permit to close the sidewalk and do work on the house. WTF?— jonline
- How can you collect taxes when the biggest tax cheats work for the city and are responsible to collect taxes.— LTownBob
- My question is WHY is Butkovitz complaining about his failure to do his OWN job! One of the MAIN job duties of any Controller is collecting receivables. If they didn't do their job, they got fired, NOT re-elected. This can only happen on The Animal Farm.— TheMonk
- they are beating a dead horse. been hearing the same thing for the last month. but contrary to what some of you posted. the worst tax cheats are investors who snap up properties on speculation. they are the main tax cheats and most don't even live in the city. and i don't think the city controller is responsible for collecting taxes.— black dog
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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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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. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
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Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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