Property Taxes, Fundraiser Safety On Council's Fall Agenda
By Mike Dunn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Revamping Philadelphia's property tax system remains high on the agenda as City Council opens its fall session today after a three-month summer recess.
Council in the spring voted to delay until next year the move to what's called the Actual Value Initiative, or AVI. Mayor Nutter had originally wanted implantation of AVI this year.
The delay may have been fortuitous, as the new citywide assessments on which AVI is based are still not yet complete. And Council members are among the many curious about what the new assessments will show for neighborhoods throughout all 10 councilmanic districts.
Meantime Councilperson-at-large Blondell Reynolds Brown today is calling for a probe of school fundraisers that place students out in traffic asking drivers for change.
Reynolds Brown says she has anecdotal evidence of some incidents in which children staging fundraisers have been hurt…. while asking for money from drivers stopped at lights:
"I see too many children at major intersections peddling, asking for money, mostly for noble causes. The issue for me is safety. Typically there is no supervising adult around. And we need to pay a) closer attention to and b) see what we can do differently."
The councilwoman says the issue is not about the merits of the fundraisers:
"The causes are worthy, but there is a way we need to do it in a responsible way that does not put children and young people at risk."
Also today, Councilman-at-large Jim Kenney is expected to introduce his plan to create a so-called "Hero's panel" to handle decisions of whether a slain officer died in the line of duty. Kenney earlier criticized the Nutter Administration for the amount of time it was taking to make that decision in the recent death of police officer Moses Walker.
Sixth District Councilman Bobby Henon plans to introduce a rewrite of the building maintenance code, and plans a hearing on the issue of tax delinquency.
