Council's 'serious six' to examine issue of tax delinquents
Today, Council members Bobby Henon, Cindy Bass, Mark Squilla, Kenyatta Johnson, Denny O'Brien and David Oh introduced six resolutions calling for hearings.
Council's 'serious six' to examine issue of tax delinquents
City Council’s serious six want to take a hard look at the issue of tax delinquency just as the legislative body is set to move forward with Mayor Nutter’s planned shift to a new property-tax system.
Today Council members Bobby Henon, Cindy Bass, Mark Squilla, Kenyatta Johnson, Denny O’Brien and David Oh introduced six resolutions calling for hearings on the following issues: delinquent vacant property, understanding real estate tax delinquency, delinquent commercial property, delinquent residential investment property, delinquent owner-occupied property and understanding national best practices and next steps.
“The fact is it is simply unfair that while most people pay their property-taxes there is still some who do not,” said Councilwoman Bass. “We intend to investigate this problem.”
The serious six (a name given to the freshman members by Councilman Curtis Jones Jr.) also plan to hold public policy briefings and have launched the website www.taxpayerfairness.com to help taxpayers understand the system, the changes to come and ways to get onto a payment plan.
This follows Nutter’s announcement earlier this week to update and invest $40 million into the city’s outdated computer system and hiring 55 employees to go after the hundreds of millions of dollars owed to the city by tax deadbeats.
It also comes as the city is set to shift to a property-tax system based on market values, known as the Actual Value Initiative (AVI). Council got a first look Wednesday at how many people could see increases to their tax bills. According to data obtained by the Daily News, more than 36,000 property owners will see their tax bills increase by at least $1,000 a year - including more than 600 that will spike by more than $5,000 – under AVI.
“I think the conversation is fitting as we address the issue of AVI,” said Councilman Johnson. “Obviously, parts of Graduate Hospital in my district will be significantly impacted, some part of Center City and parts of Point Breeze, I gather there will be some increases, but Eastwick will probably get a break. I want to make sure it’s a fair balance across the board.”
Use city owned utility bills to collect past due taxes.— Cuddles- Tank (aka Cuddles). You are one of the most delinquent on your property taxes. The criminal has no say on the line of punishment.
— DarnelX - What is there to investigate? Delinquent tax can easily be handled through a process of notifications and foreclosures. I guarantee that very many tax bills will be paid in full once the city stops messing around and gets serious with this. Stop the meetings and discussions and get the ball rolling on property foreclosures.— DarnelX
- They have to investigate who's who owing the taxes. They don't want to step onany politically connected toes, you know. The rest of us count for very little.
— DonQ - When the serious six from city council get done analyzing the ATV, the cost will be astornomical and the city taxpayers will get a overblown tax bill that they won't be able to pay.The last thing you want to do is let the clowns for city hall analyze anything. They are bafoons and aren't capable of any human thinking. Good luck with the analysis, it will stink.— rduexpress
- Currently $214 million are owed by residential property owners, this does not include delinquent commercial property taxes. While the city plans on raising the real estate taxes (via AVI) for it's citizens, many of those citizens are planning on moving out of this city, I see the "FOR SALE" signs already going up. After all, what are we getting for the tax increase? If I'm expected to pay more then I expect a better neighborhood not a city that is being driven into the ground by it's elected officials.
And what does our illustrious mayor and fine city council plan on doing with all the disabled people who cannot possibly afford a tax increase? We already know they did absolutely NOTHING when Governor Corbett signed Act 80 cutting off all General Assistance funding to those most in need. Of course there are those who abuse the system... but not all, and yes the small pittance of $102.50 still allowed people to pay their bills but more importantly gave those folks a "Proof of Income" therefore making them eligible for "Hardship Payment Arrangements."
Perhaps our fine elected city officials are in line with the Harrisburg mono-partisan ruling party and plan on throwing all of the poor and disabled folks of this city under the bus? As long as their bank accounts continue to grow of course!— ugmo
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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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