Not all properties were taxes habe been owed are owned by real estate speculators

Some properties were simply abandoned.
The orginal owners died and the family did not simply want the property because at the time unpaid taxes and liens and bills probably were more than the value of the property.

Remember Pemberton street up until a few years ago no one wanted these homes. Even today the area still has a long way to go.

Accroding to Hallwatch , 2023 Pemberton was last sold in 1964 and 2050 Pemberton was last sold in 1950. I think it is safe to assume these properties were abandoned. If anyone is living there they are probably squatters

And, it's not a given that the poor are the ones who don't pay. 740 and 742 S. 18th are owned by the same person, for example.

What happens when Philly makes excuses while trying to help people "have a chance" to pay their taxes is that the system is rapidly compromised. Everyone expects a break, and if you pay your taxes, you are considered a fool for not paying down your mortgage first.

Plenty of the most deliquent accounts in 19146 have just paid off their mortgage on the delinquent properties. Or have no mortgage at all, and never did.

I hear from neighbors that the people living there are relatives of the original owners who have not performed probate.

That means the owner died without a will. And someone has to go to the Register of Wills to be the executor, and then the Register will allocate the property to the legal decendants who claim it.

But in other parts of the state, the state will collect inheritance tax. Not so in Philly. The inheritance tax is not collected until the CITY COLLECTS THE PROPERTY TAX.

Thus, if the city does not collect the property tax, the state never gets its share, and a legal owner is never formally indicated. So no one owns it, no one takes care of it, and no one pays for it.

I called the Bureau of Inheritance Tax in Harrisburg one day and asked them why they had not collected the inheritance tax of my long-deceased neighbor whose relatives were letting the place go to pot.

The manager there stated that Harrisburg has an "informal" relationship with Philly whereby the city must certify the property first for nonpayment of property taxes, then a list of such properties and the amount of the sale revenue at Sheriff sale is forwarded to the Bureau, and the state claims its share from that data.

I asked, "what if the property never goes to Sheriff sale?" The manager stated that they relied entirely on the integrity of the collections process in Philadelphia. I asked, "haven't you noticed that some of these properties are way overdue?" He said, "yes, our office is aware that there are some 20,000 overdue accounts that owe inheritance tax in Philadelpha county."

"But we have to wait for Philadelphia to do its job and forward those accounts to us," he concluded.

SO there you have it. Poor collections cheats the state as well as the city as it lets scofflaws off the hook.

Meanwhile, people are clamoring for affordable housing, and the supply is choked off by the city.

Pemberton has been much sought after by first time home buyers, renovators, and so forth for many years. Ask any real estate agent about that area.

For the city to claim or assume that the lien is worth more than the sale price is woefully out of date. Not only were prices solid for that intersection at Sheriff sale five years ago, they are some of the highest auction prices at Sheriff sale now of any in the city.

So why won't the city collect those accounts?

Here's one:

778 S. 18th -- $42,900.00 -- Over 11 years delinquent, but transferred to a relative for $1 only as recently as 2002.

In most states, it's illegal to transfer a property to a new owner, even a relative, if the property taxes are not paid up.

So, to revise the above, in the few blocks of 2000 Pemberton and about 500 to 800 S. 18th, if the city collected only the most grossly overdue accounts, ie over $5K, it would get over $100,000.00.

Meanwhile, you and I will be paying more to compensate. Much more.

These overdue amounts could work well toward a school that the new home buyers would not hesitate so much over when thinking about where to buy. But first we have to collect fairly. No excuses.

And here's a comparative value of what that property above could sell for if it went to Sheriff sale:

In 2004, 2019 Pemberton sold for $140,000.00 at Sheriff sale in as is condition.

In one fell swoop, the gas, water, nuisance fines, and property taxes were paid when the property was paid for by the winning bidder.

Why are the politicians crying for money that is sitting right there?

What are they afraid of?

Philly fourth in 51 cities for combined local tax burden:

http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lis...005/index.html

If Philly collected the taxes it has already levied, the city would not be so intent on raising taxes still further on an already steep tax burden.

I kind of wonder if we should separate the issue of funny business and political shenangans around selective and dysfunctional enforcement of tax delinquent buildings (as well as the numerous examples of it in South Philly) from the broader questions.

Can we trust that Philly politically willbe able to actually implement a zero-gain 100% assesment policy? Should we have some process to feather in dramatic increases where there has been a huge recent increase in property values? What is a realistic number for 100% assesed value rates? $19 per thousand still sound awfully high, esp. as you factor in the number of abandooned properties that will be pushed over the line into the sherrif's sale list by their new more realistic assesed value-based taxes.

I like a lot stuff in this thread but I wonder if some of these more general questions belong in Politics.

$19 per $1000 is too high. Period. That means I can look at my taxes going from $800 per year to $4000-$5000. This is for a 2 bedroom; 1 bath house under 1000 square feet.

Not only is it too high, but I think it will actually decrease the value of many of our homes. Who is going to buy a house for $200,000 in Philadelphia if the taxes on that house are $4000? Will I be able to appeal my assessment in year 2 when they realize the reassessments are single-handedly responsible for decreasing home values?

Of course, the caveat is if the wage tax comes WAY DOWN. But, since that is not on the table, I am extremely worried.

If the proposed rate were $10 to $12 per $1000, that would be much fairer. That means my taxes would be between $2000 and $2500. Again, I am okay paying more in taxes, but a 250% increase is intolerable.

Glancy's statements convey that those who have homes that have gone down in value will see their taxes decrease. My question is, where in the hell have home values gone down? Even in North Philly and Kensington, the market has been going bonkers. People are spending 40, 50, 60, 70, 100+ on homes that only a few years ago could have been had for $5000.

Finally, I think people will misdirect their anger at the tax abatement. If this is truly revenue-neutral, we should still want to encourage new residents to come in. I fear - especially living in a neighborhood that has benefitted from the tax abatement - that stopping the abatement would halt construction in my neighborhood. That, combined with rising interest rates, could bring a screeching halt to the new development in this city.

Again, that last statement is partly predicated upon the assumption that $19 per $1000 is too high. If it is lower, I am okay with continuing the abatement. The city gets more revenue from the wage tax than from the property tax - so, unlike what some like Darryl Clarke may have you believe - the tax abatement hasn't really deprived city coffers from much needed funds.

If it weren't for the abatement, the city would not have access to wage taxes from new residents or property taxes (that are already being paid - remember the abatement is only on "improvements"). They would only get revenue from the paltry property taxes that are being paid already. I feel like this is a trade off I can live with.