Philly Tax Abatement Happenings

Most of the political buzz that you hear around Philadelphia's 10 year tax abatement program calls for it to be scaled back or ended altogether. The program, which locks property taxes at their pre-construction/renovation levels for 10 years for residential properties that are newly-built or substantially renovated, has spurred development in many parts of the city, but is widely considered to have been less affected in some of Philly's poorer neighborhoods.

Now councilman Frank DiCicco is introducing a plan to increase the tax abatement to 15 years in those certain poorer neighborhoods in hopes that five additional years of low taxes will get developers to kick up their work in those areas. You can read a bit about this proposal here. In my opinion property taxes are one of the last concerns that developers have when deciding to build or rehab properties in Philly. In most parts of the city taxes are already super-low relative to surrounding areas and the real deterrants to development are crime rates, the low quality of the schools, zoning & permitting hurdles, and a lack of jobs. If city council really wants to encourage private development in the city they should find ways to get more revenue into the city's coffers and use it wisely to address these major issues.