Ed Goppelt of Hallwatch sends the following message: <<Controller Saidel finally got his chance to present his tax reform plan. I've posted photos of [Tuesday's] hearing here: http://www.hallwatch.org/proptax/act/photos/council20020212 -- Ed Goppelt>>
Several people have emailed to ask what they can do to promote tax reform. On Ed's Hallwatch website, go to the page, "Write Your Elected Officials" and fill out the form. Hit the submit button and your letter will be faxed to City Council, the Mayor and the Board of Revision of Taxes. He's only gotten about 40 letters so far - there have to be a lot more to make a difference. It will only take you a few minutes. The hearing was long (10 a.m. - after 6 p.m.) and many, many people testified in favor of either lowering the wage tax or changing to land value tax or both. There were experts from many places, both government and academia, and then at the end a group of citizens. Unfortunately, though it was a meeting of the Committee of the Whole (which is all of City Council, only a few council members showed up. Chair Anna Verna sat patiently and politely through the entire day. So did David Cohen, and he asked a lot of questions. Darrell Clark was there at the beginning and testified himself, skeptical about land value tax in a way that made it apparent that he hadn't really listened to the explanation of how it works. He left before the testimony of experts who could have cleared up his questions. Our councilwoman Jannie Blackwell was there longer than anyone other than Verna & Cohen, and it appears that she is very supportive of this reform (she was the one who offered the resolution to hold the hearing), so perhaps she didn't need to watch an entire day of testimony. I reported on the UCCC town meeting. My testimony is below. Melani Lamond Secretary, University City Community Council February 12, 2002 My name is Melani Lamond, and I've been a resident of the University City area of West Philadelphia for about 30 years and a Realtor in that area for 18 years. Under Mr. Saidel's proposed land value tax, the property tax on my home and several properties that I own would increase - but I am 100% in favor of his proposals. I believe that we need to change our tax system now for the good of our city, and I also realize that the increase in my property taxes would be offset by decreases in wage and business taxes. I urge you to make these changes as soon as possible. I want to make two comments. First, as secretary of the University City Community Council, an umbrella organization composed of numerous community groups in University City, I'd like to report that the Community Council and Councilwoman Blackwell held a Town Meeting for University City neighbors on January 17th at which Mr. Saidel and Mr. Mandell explained their proposals. Following a question and comment period, we took an informal vote and found that, of the approximately 100 neighbors present, about half a dozen were undecided, and everyone else present was in favor of Mr. Saidel's proposals. No one opposed them. There has also been favorable discussion of the proposals on our local University City email listservs. We believe that this is a strong endorsement from our area of the city. Secondly, as a property owner in University City, I’d like to give an example that helped our Town Meeting understand how the current tax structure preserves the status quo right on Baltimore Ave., a commercial "main street" in University City, and slows down the revitalization of our city. My husband and I recently bought a 3-story storefront with two apartments above it at 4728 Baltimore Ave. Its lot size is 864 s.f., and the annual property tax is $926., or $1.07 per s.f. per year. Next door at 4730-34 Baltimore Ave. is a vacant lot about 4 times the size of our property at 3450 s.f. The building on that lot burned down in the early 70's. Its annual property tax is $79., or $.02 per s.f. per year. $1.07 per square foot for my property, and $.02 next door, with each lot having the same C3 zoning! For nearly thirty years, 4730-34 Baltimore has been a weed-filled lot which is detrimental to the rental of my storefront and an unpleasant intrusion on our struggling commercial block. Yet, under the current tax system, the lot's owner is under no pressure to make improvements - not when he is paying only $79. a year in taxes! For us to maximize the potential of our Baltimore Avenue "main street," we need the more equitable taxing system that Mr. Saidel has proposed. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to ask you to change our tax system. The University City Community Council is an umbrella organization of University City community and special interest groups including Cedar Park Neighbors, Garden Court Community Assn., Powelton Village Civic Assn., Saunders Park Neighbors, Squirrel Hill Community Assn., Walnut Hill Community Assn., Friends of Clark Park, Friends of Walnut West Library, 18th District Police Advisory Council, Squirrel Hill Police Substation, University City Pride and the West Philadelphia Partnership Town Watch Network. ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
