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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

PICA Releases October Tax Revenue Numbers

The Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority released their montly report on the city's tax revenues today. It reveals that October was stronger than recent months, partly due to an increase in the revenue from the wage tax. Check out the full details here.
Posted by Catherine Lucey @ 10:19 AM  Permalink | 5 comments
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:19 AM, 11/10/2009
    The city is still owed something around $400 million in overdue property taxes. While sheriff sales rely on demand for renovatable property by in fill developers primarily, and demand for non-new housing generally, there is still demand by buyers for housing that sheriff sales can supply if the city simply forecloses on this debt. Foreclosure by the city determines more than anything the amount of overdue property tax debt that is collected month to month, and still there is little appreciable improvement in how the city conducts sheriff sales or goes after ancient, long overdue property tax debt. This is property that needs no more than 12 months legally to notify and process a sale of a property that owes money, and still there are empty houses and vacant lots that the city won't foreclose upon. The process for certifying properties for sale or sending the property to private collection agencies is closed. It's not transparent. There's no clear policy of what gets certified and what won't, and no city employee will explain it to a member of the public. This is open for corruption. It's unfair to those who do pay in full and on time, to have a system where it is simply unknowable if or when another owner will have to pay their property taxes. How can the press simply avoid covering this issue when writing about city financial health?
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:36 AM, 11/10/2009
    Then there is forfeit bail. The city is owed $1 billion in forfeit bail by court no-shows, and that is money that is supposed to be collected by the Office of the Clerk of Quarter Sessions. Are they going to do that without the press getting on them? Of course not. This is debt that PICA treats as "bad" debt almost, but it is certainly collectible, and is even salable. This is debt that could also be sold to private collectors to go after, like bail bonds businesses. The city is sloppy, the PICA's highly politicized oversight is missing big numbers.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:43 AM, 11/10/2009
    There is a house a block from me that owes $12,600.00 and has not paid a dime in property taxes since 2002. This property was not sent to private collection, and the Revenue Dept. could not explain to me what that is the case. There's no accountability or consistency in collections. The process is closed, opaque and it's likely riddled with corruption, because some owners experience foreclosure, and some special few do not. As long as the press treats property tax foreclosure as taboo, this will likely remain the case.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:46 AM, 11/10/2009
    Why is this the case? This is not a property in a payment plan, the house that owes $12,600.00 in overdue property taxes. They are just not paying anything, but the house has not gone to foreclosure. How can this be? This case times several thousand instances of political interference or ineptitude (or both) explain why property tax collection is "highly variable" and why off months don't produce consistent income much more than PICA is willing to outline.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • Comment removed.


5 comments
About The Philly Clout Team
PhillyClout
Chris Brennan, a native Philadelphian and graduate of Temple University, joined the Daily News in 1999. He has written about SEPTA, the Philadelphia School District, the legalization of casino gambling, state government, the mayor, the governor, City Council and political campaigns.
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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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Catherine Lucey
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Chris Brennan
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