Keith Richardson
is the revenue commissioner for Philadelphia
Rob Dubow
is the city's finance director
As reported by The Inquirer, Philadelphia has a long history of tax delinquency and vacant property. The Nutter administration recognizes this as one of the biggest challenges facing the city and has made strides to reduce delinquencies and encourage better uses for vacant property.
Comparing the amount owed at the end of May to that owed at the same point in 2009, and using the same years as your articles (2001-2008), shows the total owed has decreased by $78 million, or 38 percent. However, each year new properties become delinquent.
Your articles underestimated the impact of the worst economic recession since the Depression on taxpayers' ability to pay. Also, in comparing Philadelphia to other jurisdictions, the articles didn't discuss the impact of Philadelphia's poverty rate - the highest among the country's 10 largest cities.
The city's largest collection initiative was the first tax amnesty in about 25 years, and it was very successful, collecting $73 million in gross revenue, of which $24 million was delinquent real estate taxes.
The mayor has been very forceful about improving enforcement efforts and visible in the pursuit of tax deadbeats. Our strategies are listed on our website (www.phila.gov/revenue/delinquencies), including publishing the names of the biggest debtors to increase the pressure on them to pay.
Collection efforts were also strengthened by subjecting city workers to involuntary paycheck withholding for any delinquencies, and by requiring anyone seeking a variance or filing an appeal with the Zoning Board of Adjustment to be current with city taxes.
We're also negotiating agreements with institutions such as universities and quasi-governmental agencies under which they will make Philadelphia tax compliance a condition for contractors and vendors to do business with them.
Beyond new collection approaches, we've made existing procedures more effective: The tax unit of the Law Department now reports to a chief counsel, who in turn is managed by both the city solicitor and the revenue commissioner, thereby enhancing cooperation between the two departments; and outside collection firms can now take delinquent properties to a sheriff's sale.
We also plan to increase the number of properties sold at sheriff's sales to roughly 600 per month. The collection lawsuits, more than 5,000 filed annually by the city in Municipal Court, now focus on the freshest delinquencies because those are most likely to be collectible. Similarly, we're identifying and filing lawsuits against owners of multiple delinquent properties.
We believe that our efforts will continue to improve collections and will help combat the blight of vacant land in the city.
Last year, we established a coordinated vacant-property strategy group with input from community development corporations, private developers, and City Council. With 25 percent of vacant land in the city owned by public entities, we've focused on improving our ability to dispose of properties faster and with better outcomes for the land.
We've consolidated the lists of four landholding agencies and published these lists online, providing transparency and opportunities for development for the public. We've looked at new ways of selling our properties, such as through broker sales, and have resolved issues with 500 properties that were sitting in the city's backlog of properties awaiting disposition. We've also stepped up our enforcement of city Redevelopment Authority agreements requiring developers to complete projects.
The vacant-property group has also focused on the need for a land bank to further consolidate properties and provide new tools to dispose of and maintain vacant properties.
We're examining ways to encourage and market our properties as well as those bound for sheriff's sales. And we plan to raise awareness of a powerful tool - sheriff's sales at the request of neighbors willing to pay a refundable deposit for the cost of the sale in advance.
Taken together, these many actions have brought the city closer to collecting every dollar it is owed.