Editorial: Keep pressure on the BRT

It's been two weeks since the Board of Revision of Taxes was shown to be a corrupt, incompetent agency, filled with political hacks, including some who appear to have rigged tax assessments and violated city rules.

But despite calls for change, it remains business as usual for the BRT. In most places around the country, heads would have rolled by now, or the leaders of the failed agency would have had the decency to resign.

But this is Philadelphia, where almost no bad deed gets punished.

The problems at the BRT are widespread, and in need of fixing now.

Property assessments are uneven and unfair. Some properties haven't been assessed for 20 years. The well-connected appear to have been able to keep their tax bills low, while working stiffs pay more than they should.

Granted, dismantling the BRT could take some time. But the Committee of Seventy, the good-government group, has suggested several quick fixes that would instill some confidence in the BRT in the short term.

Its ideas include eliminating the nearly 80 patronage jobs, replacing BRT executive director Enrico Foglia, and enacting a conflict-of-interest policy making it clear that BRT assessors can't also work as private appraisers.

Mayor Nutter, to his credit, called for the resignation of all seven BRT board members almost immediately after an Inquirer series exposed the agency as a cesspool. But he has no direct control over the BRT, and its unrepentant board rejected his appeal.

Russell Nigro appeared miffed that anyone would dare to take away his $70,000-a-year, part-time job on the board. Voters already fired Nigro once for the role he played as a state Supreme Court justice in the Harrisburg pay-raise scandal. Yet, he keeps turning up, like a bad penny.

Then again, the BRT has long served as a retirement home for washed-out political cronies who need a place to coast.

The list of employees who need to be removed goes on, including a BRT assessor who appears to have evaded city taxes.

City Councilman Bill Green has introduced two bills that would dismantle or overhaul the agency. That's a step in the right direction. But either move will require changing the City Charter, which could take a year or so.

If the BRT is allowed to plod on as it is now, how can any property owner trust his assessment? Likewise, no prospective business or homeowner in his right mind would want to move into a city where the property-tax system is so badly broken.

Fixing the BRT isn't going to be easy. Swift and dramatic change is needed now.

The mayor must keep pressing.