Taxes Top Agenda For City Council 2013 Session
By Mike Dunn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Philadelphia City Council opens its 2013 legislative session this Thursday and, like last year, a revamping of the city's property tax system is likely to dominate the agenda.
Mayor Nutter wanted to move to the system known as Actual Value Initiative last year, before a complete citywide reassessment of all properties was complete. City Council, though, opted to wait until this year -- and the new assessments in fact are due to be mailed out next month.
What's left then for Council and the mayor is to agree on the resulting tax rate and on buffers that will ease the hit for those who live in neighborhoods were values have escalated. Council President Darrell Clarke says the Nutter Administration has yet to show council members the neighborhood breakdowns of the new values.
"It would have been a lot easier obviously had we had these numbers a little earlier. We've been promised those numbers by the end of January. Hopefully that will happen very shortly."
At the same time, Council and the mayor will haggle again over the next budget, with Nutter's proposed spending plan delivered in March. Clarke says the budget challenges are likely to include funding for the still-unsettled municipal worker union contracts.
"We, unlike the federal government, do not have the capability of running debt. Under statute, we must have a balanced budget. So I expect a challenging time. But I think we're up to the task."
Also looming is the continued financial woes of the school district, and the debate over the planned closure of 37 school buildings. Clarke fears that Council may be asked, for a fourth straight year, to boost the city's contribution to the schools.
"I'm sure there will be an 'ask' for the City Council of Philadelphia to come up with additional revenue. But, having done that three years running, we need to look to the state for additional revenue sources (for the schools)."
Clarke is entering his second full year as Council President, and he's hoping his colleagues deal with these and other matters by thinking outside the box.
"Our first response to a fiscal challenge cannot be to stick our hands into the pockets of our citizens. So, we look forward to council members coming up with a very aggressive game plan on ways of growing our revenue base in the city of Philadelphia."
