Committee on Finance, May 13, 2024

COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE ON FINANCE Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Monday, May 13, 2024 1:00 p.m. PRESENT: COUNCIL PRESIDENT KENYATTA JOHNSON COUNCIL CHAIR KATHERINE GILMORE RICHARDSON COUNCILMEMBER NINA AHMAD COUNCILMEMBER CURTIS JONES, JR. COUNCILMEMBER CINDY BASS COUNCILMEMBER JAMIE GAUTHIER COUNCILMEMBER ISAIAH THOMAS BILLS 240059, 240376, and 240062 RESOLUTION 240027 - - 240059, ETC. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: A quorum of the committee is present, and this hearing is now called to order. This is a public hearing of the Committee on Finance regarding resolution number 240027 and Bills No. 240059 and 240376. Bill No. 7 240062 is being held. Prior to the clerk calling of the title and reading the title of the bills and resolutions, I'd like to announce that due to time constraints, we will take a testimony at the very beginning from three witnesses. And then we will break and go into the public meeting and then back into the public hearing to take the remainder of the testimony. Clerk, will you please read the title of the bills and resolutions?

Resolution number 240027, a resolution authorizing the Committee on Finance to investigate the operations and significant overspending of the Office of Homeless Services under the previous administration, as well as quality of service services provided in the homeless services system. Bill No. 240059, an ordinance amending title 19 of the Philadelphia Code entitled 240059, ETC. Finance, Taxes and Collections by adding a new chapter 194600 entitled Low Income Tax Provisions providing for the refund or forgiveness of real estate tax liability of certain low-income residents attributable to real estate tax increases and increases in the assessed value of the taxpayers homestead under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 240376, an ordinance 11 authorizing an increase in the non-electoral indebtedness of the city within the Pennsylvania constitutional limit authorizing the bond committee to sell bonds at public or private negotiated sale to provide funds toward various capital municipal purposes. Providing for appropriations to the sinking fund commission for the payments of such bonds and authorizing agreements to provide credit or payment or liquidity sources for the bonds in connection with issuance of the bonds and certain other actions, and rescinding the authorization set forth in Bill No. 230186-A, approved September 15th, 2023. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you. 240059, ETC. And before I call on the clerk to call the first panel, I'd like to recognize the presence of our colleague, Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, who was the sponsor of Bill No. 240059. Would any of my colleagues like to make any opening remarks? Any of the committee members? Councilmember Gauthier, do you have opening remarks?

Thank you so much, Madam Chair, and good afternoon, everyone. Many thanks to Madam Chair and the finance committee for hearing Bill 240059, which authorizes the city to create a new tax relief program for homeowners. I am unofficially calling this the low-income property tax freeze. This is the first bill in a legislative package I'm working on this spring that is focused on defying the displacement of our working class black and brown communities. No 20 matter where you look, the data points tell the same story. Far too many Philadelphians can no 22 longer afford to live in Philadelphia. The communities that endured redlining, endured deindustrialization, and endured disinvestment are now enduring gentrification, 240059, ETC. fueled by biased property assessment practices that make them more vulnerable to speculative development. This bill addresses one key financial pressure that I imagine every council office gets a lot of calls about, property taxes. During the last round of property assessments, over 100,000 homes saw their assessments jump by at least 50 percent. Almost 31,000 assessments increased by at least 100 percent, over 6,000 assessments increased by at least 200 percent, and 3,500 assessments increased by at least 300 percent. And we know from our budget hearings that another round of reassessment is scheduled for any day now. We weren't able to pass this type of bill before the last round of assessments because of the state's uniformity clause. But later that year, Governor Wolf signed Act 58 into law, which permits local tax authorities to provide refunds or forgiveness of real estate taxes for low- income taxpayers. That's what Bill 240059 does. It's the local legislation we need to make a new low-income tax freeze program enabled by the 240059, ETC. state a reality. This wont zero out peoples tax bills, but if we pass this bill before the next tax year, eligible low-income homeowners can freeze their tax burden at previous levels so that when their property is reassessed, their tax bill wont go up. I think this is especially timely fresh off the heels of a study that shows OPA practices led to a racial and economic bias in the 2023 assessment, which led to a higher tax burden on lower and moderate income homeowners. We know another reassessment is coming. So if we don't do something to try to help people now, we're putting more multi-generational wealth and family stability at risk. By making sure our neediest homeowners can afford their tax bills, we invest in their ability to remain in our neighborhoods where they can attend their local schools, steward our blocks and public spaces, and reinforce their block's sense of community. That's why this bill is so important. I want to thank bill co-sponsors, Majority Leader Gilmore Richardson, Minority Leader Brooks, Minority Whip O'Rourke, 240059, ETC. Councilmember Landau, Councilmember Lozada, and Councilmember Squilla, and thank you again to the finance committee members for considering my bill. I very much look forward to this discussion. Thank you. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you. And thank you so much, Councilmember Gauthier, for your work on Bill No. 240059. Clerk, will you please call the first panel we have to testify first on Bill No. 240376.

Tavare Brown. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Please approach the witness table. You can state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony. And prior to taking the testimony of Tavare Brown, I just wanted to thank the Department of Finance and the administration for their work with us as the new chair of the finance committee and for giving us the timeline relative to some of the work that we will continue to do together and being amenable to working with us for the remainder of this calendar. 240059, ETC. So I just wanted to say thank you so much to not only finance, but to the treasurer's office for your work. Please state your name, Tavare Brown, for the record and proceed with your testimony.

How's everybody doing? I'm Tavare Brown and I'll proceed with the testimony. So good morning, Chair Gilmore Richardson and members of the finance committee. My name is Tavare Brown, deputy budget director for capital, and I'm joined by Matt Bowman, deputy treasurer and executive director of the sinking fund. I'm here today to testify in support of Bill No. 15 240376, which was introduced on May 2nd, 2024. The purpose of the bill is obtain approval from city council to authorize an increase in non-electoral indebtedness of the city within the Pennsylvania constitutional limit. The loan question requests an increase in indebtedness and in the amount not to exceed $227 million to fund the city's amended fiscal year 2024 capital budget that was signed into law on May 1st, 2024. This request rescinds the authorization 240059, ETC. set forth in Bill No. 230186-A, approved September 15th, 2023, as this new bill reflects the updated loan authorization amount following amendments made to the capital budget as part of the spring transfer ordinance. As of April 10th, 2024, the city's legal debt limit was $16.257 billion and the amount of debt applicable to that limit was 2.533 billion. As a result, the city has a debt margin of about 13.7 billion available. The FY24 capital budget for a new general obligation, or GO, if you look in the book, it's GO, bonds is approximately $217.95 million. The proposed ordinance includes the new GO loan amount plus an additional four percent for cost of issuance. This brings the loan authorization amount to $227 million. This loan authorization, if approved, would finance the capital projects classified for the following and in the following aggregate amounts, and there are five essential categories. So that's transit, streets and sanitation, municipal buildings, parks, recreations, and museums, and the last category 240059, ETC. is economic and community development. I'll let you go through the list of amounts, but you have it in my written testimony. And I respectfully request that you report Bill No. 240376 out of committee with a favorable recommendation. And I further request the rules of council be suspended so as to permit the first reading at the next session of council. This concludes my testimony, and I'll be happy to answer any questions Council might have at this time. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you very, very much for your testimony. And again, I wanted to state for the record that my office had the opportunity to meet with the finance team, with the treasurer's team regarding this FY24 loan reauthorization, obviously, most of which we approved in the mid-year transfer. And so I do not have any additional questions outside of the ones that I already offered in the meeting. Do any of our colleagues on the finance committee have any questions? Seeing none, we thank you very much for your testimony. 240059, ETC.

Thank you. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Will the clerk please call the first panel we have to testify on Bill No. 240059?

Rob Dubow. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: As Rob approaches the witness table, we thank you very much for your attendance. You can state your name for the record. Proceed with your testimony.

Good afternoon, Chair Gilmore Richardson and members of the committee. Rob Dubow. I'm the director of finance, and I'm here to testify on Bill 240059, which amends the Philadelphia Code and creates a new chapter, low- income tax provisions. The new chapter 18 establishes a real estate tax relief program designed to freeze real estate tax bills of low- income homeowners permanently, beginning in the year 2025. As council and the administration anticipate new real estate assessments for FY25, we recognize the need to lessen the tax burdens on our most vulnerable residents. That's why 240059, ETC. we've worked with city council in the past years to implement an array of existing relief programs that lower real estate tax bills, protect seniors and longtime homeowners, and keep families in their homes. Philadelphia has some of the strongest homeowner safeguards in the nation. We do have some concerns about the proposed program, however, and we lay out some of those concerns about implementation and enforcement. And as always, we balance the cost of programs against other priorities, as well as other proposed relief measures within the five-year plan. Our estimates, and we have an appendix to the testimony that shows these estimates, suggest the proposed program may result in total expenditures of approximately 39 million to 94 million over the 5-year plan, depending on the level of participation. That's roughly 17 million to 41 million for the city's general fund and about 22 million to 53 million for the school district. Those figures reflect increases of real estate market values as forecasted in the 240059, ETC. proposed five-year plan. Excuse me. Nonetheless, we look forward to working with council to evaluate this and other proposed proposals to protect homeowners from increasing market values in the '25 to '29 plan. Thank you for the opportunity to testify, and I welcome your questions. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you. Thank you so much, Rob Dubow, for your testimony. And thank you for being amenable to working with the sponsor of Bill No. 240059 regarding any additional feedback that we have in seeking to work together to ensure that we reach the end goal. Will the clerk please recognize panel two?

Jonathan Sgro.

Am I done? COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Are there any questions for panel one? Seeing none, thank you very, very much --

Thank you. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: -- for your testimony. We'll now proceed with panel two. You can state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony. 240059, ETC.

Good afternoon, members of the committee. My name is Jonathan Sgro. I'm a divisional supervising attorney at Community Legal Services. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Please proceed with your testimony.

Sure. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. As I said, I am a supervising attorney at Community Legal Services, where I focus my practice on representing Philadelphia homeowners who are struggling to pay their property taxes. In 2023, the assessed value of a Philadelphia home increased by an average of 31 percent citywide. But many homeowners, especially those living in low-income and majority black and brown neighborhoods, saw much larger increases, leaving many residents worried that they won't be able to live in their neighborhoods much longer. The Office of Property Assessment will soon release new assessed values for the 2025 tax year, and we expect homeowners to again see significant increases in their assessments, with 240059, ETC. those living in gentrifying neighborhoods experiencing yet another round of sticker shock. CLS is grateful to city council and the administration for the programs it has created over the years to help homeowners afford their tax bills, including the homestead exemption, the senior freeze program, and LOOP. These are vital programs, but none of these programs directly addresses the steady increases in values that will continue for years to come and leave many low-income homeowners at risk of displacement, specifically homeowners living on fixed incomes and working low-wage jobs. The best way to avoid displacement caused by rising values is this low-income tax freeze program, which would extend the protections of the senior freeze program to all low-income homeowners, regardless of age. To be clear, homeowners would still pay their property taxes each year. The program is simply intended to protect the lowest income homeowners from unaffordable year-to-year increases in their tax bills as values continue 240059, ETC. to rise. This program would be a vital lifeline to homeowners who are not yet eligible for the senior freeze because they're under the age of 65, or homeowners who are not sufficiently protected by LOOP, either because they haven't lived in their home for years, or because the 9 LOOP amount is still unaffordable to them. 10 To some, an increased in a tax bill of a few hundred dollars might not sound like much, but many for many Philadelphia homeowners, even a modest increase can mean the difference between paying their bills or losing their home. Take, for example, a client that I helped last year who lives in Norris Square named Anna Martinez. Ms. Martinez couldn't be here today, but she asked me to share her story with you. She purchased her home in the mid 2000s through a government program for first-time home buyers for individuals with modest incomes. Since then, her taxes have risen dramatically, including a 500 percent increase since 2014. From 2022 to 2023, even with the homestead exemption, her tax bill 25 increased by $1,100 a year. 240059, ETC. This caused her monthly mortgage payment to increase by over $100 a month. Ms. Martinez lives on Social Security disability payments of $1,500 a year. She now struggles to make ends meet, and she lives in constant fear that future tax increases are going to force her from her home at a time when rents are also skyrocketing. Passing this legislation has taken on additional urgency in light of a report recently released by CLS in conjunction with the reinvestment fund, finding evidence of systemic racial bias in Philadelphia's property tax assessment system. The report shows that homeowners living in majority black, brown, and low-income neighborhoods were more likely to be inaccurately assessed and more likely to be over- assessed. Given that problems with accuracy and over-assessment are concentrated in low-income neighborhoods, it is critical to target relief at these homeowners right now before the tax bills continue to rise and become even higher. As a city, we take great pride in the fact that even 240059, ETC. those with low and moderate incomes can realize the dream of home ownership.

Every year, hundreds, if not thousands of Philadelphians inherit family homes that have been in families for generations. We also invest in first-time home buyer programs and repair programs intended to keep families in their longtime homes. Given our high rate of low- income home ownership, property tax policy is affordable housing policy. We need to ensure that these Philadelphians can stay in their homes, which is why CLS urges city council to pass this important legislation. Thank you for your time and for your support. I'm happy to answer any questions that you have. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you. And thank you very, very much for your testimony and for your work with so many in the community who are facing rising property taxes. We will now recess the public hearing on resolution 23 number 240027 and Bills No. 240059, 240062, and 240736 (sic) to go into a public meeting to consider the action to be taken on these bills. 240059, ETC. All the witnesses, we ask that you please stay because we will take your testimony right after this. Clerk, will you please call the roll to take attendance? Members that are in attendance will please indicate that you are present when your name is called.

Councilmember Ahmad. (No response.)

Councilmember Jones.

Present.

Vice Chair Bass.

Present.

Chair Gilmore Richardson. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Present.

And Councilmember Thomas.

Present. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you. A quorum of the committee is present. The chair now recognizes Councilmember Bass for a motion on Bill No. 240376.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill No. 240376 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and move further that the rules of 240059, ETC. council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of council. (Duly seconded.) COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: It has been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 240376 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of counsel be suspended as to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of council. All those in favor will signify by stating aye. (Aye.) COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: All those opposed? The ayes have it, and the motion carries. Bill No. 240376 will be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation with request that the rules of council be suspended to permit first reading at our next session of council. The chair now recognizes Councilmember Bass for a motion on Bill No. 21 240059.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill No. 240059 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of 240059, ETC. council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of council. (Duly seconded.) COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: It has been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 240059 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of counsel be suspended as to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of council. All those in favor of the motion will signify by stating aye. (Aye.) COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Those opposed? The ayes have it, and the motion carries. Bill No. 240059 will be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation with a request that the rules of council be suspended as to permit first reading at the next session of council. The chair also thanks Councilmember Jones for seconding both motions. This will now conclude the public meeting of the Committee on Finance, and we will resume with the public hearing of the Committee on Finance. Thank you, colleagues. 240059, ETC.

Thank you. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Will the clerk please call the next panel? Call the roll. Will the clerk please call the roll again for the public hearing?

No. 8 COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: We can proceed with the next panel for Bill No. 240059.

Ira Goldstein. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony. Thank you.

My name is Ira Goldstein. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Please proceed with your testimony. Thank you.

Thank you. Good afternoon, council members. My name is Ira Goldstein and I'm a senior advisor to the Policy Solutions Group at Reinvestment Fund. I am also co-author of the evaluation of the city's property tax assessments titled Examining Accuracy, Uniformity, and Equity of Philadelphia's 2023 Real Estate Assessments. 240059, ETC. My colleagues and I were asked to estimate the financial cost of Philadelphia City Council Bill 240059. Throughout the process, we consulted with staff of Councilmember Gauthier's office, as well as with members of the city's revenue department and the Center for Economic Policy Analysis, co-author of our OPA study. Estimating the impact of this bill is difficult because there is no direct administrative data on critical eligibility- related criteria, notably income and age. This leaves us with the census's American Community Survey from 2018 to 2022. Philadelphia owner- occupied households were identified as eligible for the freeze if the total personal income of householder and spouse, if present, was below the PACENET limits. Households were eliminated if the head or spouse was 65-plus years old. These households are already being served by Philadelphia's senior citizen real estate tax freeze or senior freeze. The Tax Policy Center at the Brookings Institution defines a tax expenditure as, and I quote, special provisions 240059, ETC. of the tax code, such as exclusions, deductions, deferrals, credits, and tax rates that benefit specific activities or groups of taxpayers. In the case of this freeze, the legislation involves the city foregoing taxes to benefit very low-income homeowners that experience a rise in their taxes that could cause them to lose their home or undergo financial difficulty because their property taxes became unaffordable. To create conservative estimates of the financial impact, and when I say conservative, I mean estimates that are greater than we expect, we inflated the ACS reported income by the consumer price index, home values by the home price index, and taxes based on the recent rise. We estimate that there are approximately 62,000 households that are owner-occupied, income eligible, and where neither the householder or spouse is 65-plus years old. These households have homes averaging value of around 143,000 and report a typical property tax payment of $1,638. Taken together, these eligible households have real estate valued 240059, ETC. billion with a tax of 172 million. million. 3 million in the first year of the freeze. 9 million. These estimates are based on 100 percent households participating, but experience with other city programs suggests that that rate is unlikely. 4 million in the first year. 3 million. To put these amounts in perspective, we examined public reports of other tax expenditures 240059, ETC. that benefit Philadelphia homeowners. 6 million, and we estimate the current 1 to 4 family residential portion of the new construction and rehab abatement expenditure at over 70 million. Lastly, we expect that while there will be beneficiaries of the freeze across the city, based on other neighborhood level studies, we expect that beneficiaries will be clustered in parts of north and west Philadelphia where income, household incomes tend to be lower. Given the participation challenge of other programs, having a keen sense of where there are concentrations of eligible households will help the city target their education and outreach effort for this freeze. Our analysis is not without limitations. We don't know how the homestead exemption or other homeowner-focused programs will interact with the freeze. We also don't know how much values and assessments will rise in the future. Similarly, we don't know how much 240059, ETC. incomes will rise, whether PACENET eligibility thresholds will change, and whether the city will review eligibility on some periodic basis.

Lastly, there is a margin of error in the ACS data, and over time, the situation of Philadelphia households can change substantially. But on balance, we believe that the estimates of the number of households impacted and the tax expenditure born by the city and school district are conservative estimates. In other words, we think that it overstates the cost, which likely overstates the actual foregone taxes. Thank you. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you. Thank you very, very much for your testimony, and we look forward to reviewing the numbers you provided. The chair recognizes Councilmember Ahmad.

I'm going to try to speak. I have lost my voice. But just globally, why is there a consistent problem with our assessment? And I'm asking you because you've been around for so long as a reinvestment act. We know that there's targeted development that skews everything. 240059, ETC. Why are we not able to drill down to know exact values of all our houses, given the outlier of one high level investment that was made in one property, and how it skews everybody else? Why are we not technically able to do this?

Well, I think if I understand your question, I think that there are a couple different issues that impact the quality of the assessments. Firstly, I think the underlying data has issues. There's no doubt in my mind that some of the things that are used to estimate the value based on the characteristics of properties that sell are not universally high quality indicators of what the situation of any particular house is, and I think that presents a problem. I also think that there are some problems that are presented by the nature of the way that the equations are created by the assessors through the mass assessment systems that are used. And embedded in that, we see that there are these challenges that we document. At the same time, I do think that there has been 240059, ETC. real improvement. So we did a study a couple years previously, and between the two points in time, there is definite evidence of improvement, and there is definite evidence of willingness on the part of OPA to make them better. So while there are still problems, and we think it's data problems, we think there are procedure problems, there may be some statistical problems to address, I do think that progress has been made and we are getting better. And I'll say that we've had an opportunity to look at the data in other communities, even around Pennsylvania. And ours, in some ways, are better because they are done much more routinely. In Pittsburgh, for example, they haven't done a reassessment in 12 years. That causes shocks that are way more severe, oftentimes, than people in Philadelphia confront. I know that's only a partial answer.

I'm just interested in how disaggregated the data is, instead of this mass lumping together and do our 240059, ETC. -- this is a very technical question. Are we able to be fine-tuned in how we are doing the assessment and not taking an overall picture based on one thing and taking a whole global picture there? But instead of drilling down and almost doing an assessment, particularly where there have been sudden reinvestments and investments in an area that has been under-invested for a long time. We know that. Can we overlap that data with this data to say we would expect a sudden shift here, because there has been a recent investment in a traditionally underinvestment area? So we should build that into our equations.

And I think that is definitely doable. The data that is used is very disaggregated. It is down to the property. So the ability to do what you're suggesting is definitely there, and explore and examine the degree to which it produces better assessments.

Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you. 240059, ETC. Thank you very much, Councilmember Ahmad, and thank you very, very much, Dr. Goldstein, for your testimony and for being here. We look forward to reading your testimony and looking at the estimates that you have provided. The chair now recognizes the clerk for panel number three.

Angela Thomas, Jessica Breeden. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: You can please approach the witness table and state your names for the record, and you can proceed with your testimony. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.

My name is Angela Thomas. Please bear with me. This is -- COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Ma'am, please pull the mic forward. Thank you very, very much.

Welcome. This is emotional for me. Good afternoon, members of the committee. Again, my name is Angela Thomas. I'm here today to ask you to vote for low-income tax freeze bill to help homeowners like me. I live at 1614 Montrose Street in Philadelphia. I lived 240059, ETC. on Montrose Street since I bought my house in 1996 with my husband, Timothy Thomas. I was a homemaker, and my husband, Tim, worked as special education teacher in Philadelphia for decades, almost years. We 7 always paid our property taxes -- thank you -- 8 each year. But then Tim died unexpectedly in 9 2021 during the pandemic. 10 We had been married for 30 years. I 11 hadn't worked outside my home in years. Social 12 Security said I was too young to receive my 13 husband's benefits until I turn 62. I'm 56. I'm 14 working now for different delivery companies, 15 delivering food. My income went from 6 figures 16 to less than $600 a month. So I'm still really 17 shock that my husband is not here. We were the 18 same age. We were vegans. We ate very healthy. 19 With less $600 a month, I'm -- 20 Speaker A: I'm not eligible for the 21 senior freeze. 22

-- I'm not eligible for 23 the senior freeze. 24 Speaker A: Monty Wilson told me you 25 could help me save my home. 240059, ETC. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: My lawyer, Monty Wilson, is helping me stay in my house -- Speaker A: But I'm not eligible for the LOOP program.

But I'm not eligible for the LOOP program. Speaker A: The LOOP program. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Ma'am?

Yes. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: My heart breaks for you, and I'm so sorry for your loss of your husband. And if you can't finish, we have your written testimony that we can review and submit for the record. But we certainly understand what you are conveying. Because of your age, you are not eligible for a number of programs with the unexpected loss of your beloved husband, who gave so much to the city of Philadelphia and to our young people in the school district. We are so sorry for your loss. As a wife and a mom and as a daughter of parents who have gone on to glory, my heart goes out to you. And you have the love of this council committee, 240059, ETC. and we thank you for even being here, seeking to convey how difficult it is to traverse after the loss of a loved one. And so thank you very, very much.

Thank you. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Yes, ma'am. Chair now recognizes Councilmember Gauthier.

I just also wanted to thank you for coming here to speak about something so difficult, so visibly and viscerally difficult. And I'm really sorry that you've had to struggle in this way. But I do hope that you know that shining a light on what happened to you and your bravery, hopefully can help many other homeowners in our city who have either fallen on a very hard circumstance or who just are struggling every day to make ends meet. So thank you, thank you, thank you, and I'm so sorry.

Thank you. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: We will now recognize Jessica Breeden. If you could state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony. 240059, ETC.

My name is Jessica Breeden, and here's my testimony. Good afternoon, members of the committee. My name is Jessica Breeden. I am here today to ask you to vote for the low-income tax freeze bill to help homeowners like me. I would like to thank this committee for considering this important bill, and I would especially like to thank -- this is a lot. I bought my home in 2020 at 196. It was over- assessed over at 517. My mortgage went up $800. There's been times I came home, the lights is off, and this is sad. So bills like this need to be passed to help regular people. I come from drug-addicted parents. I'm fighting to keep my house. It's a lot. This year has been tough for me. And I'm sorry, I can't really read all this, but it's a lot. I don't qualify for LOOP. I'm nowhere near a senior. So right now, I'm speaking from my heart. I was just crying the last 20 minutes trying to keep myself together before I even came up here. It's really a lot. I'm not sure if I can really finish 240059, ETC. this, because I feel her. I feel a lot of people. Kate has been helping me with the services, and it's just been a lot of us coming to court, doing these appeals, fighting to get the property taxes down. It's been a lot. It's been tiring, taking off of work. It's a lot. You barely can afford it. Over $800 a month is a lot. It's a lot. It is. I think I'm done with my testimony. I'm sorry. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: No, please do not apologize. We are just very glad that you are here to share your story, but sorry under these circumstances. And I'm thankful for you fighting and trying to keep your home and preserving home ownership. And I just wanted to thank Community Legal Services for working with both Ms. Thomas and Ms. Breeden to help them maintain their homes. This is why we do the work that we do. This is why we're here to help folks like you all across the city of Philadelphia who are facing hard times. And just like you, we all have gone through similar circumstances, and our heart 240059, ETC. really does go out to you, and it's the reason why I was glad to co-sponsor the legislation offered by my colleague, Councilmember Gauthier, to really help those who are facing hard times maintain and preserve homeownership, which is a way to create generational wealth for that next generation. You talked about generations. And so I wanted to just recognize Councilmember Gauthier, and then we will proceed. And we do have your written testimony for the record that we will submit for the records for members to review. Okay?

I wanted to just, again, thank both of you. I know that it was hard for you to be here today. I can tell. And I realize how much trauma that you've gone through in each of your situations, but I still think that it was really important, and thank you, because you're telling your story, but it's about thousands and thousands of women and people who are in the same situation. And it's also important to me to work on these types of policies because most of the 240059, ETC. housing policies that I work on impact women who look just like me. Right?

Yes.

And so I just want to thank you so much for being here, even though it was hard. And you're really brave, and it was really important --

Thank you.

-- for you to do this for everybody, so that we can end the type of injustices that have been happening. So thank you.

Thank you. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you. Any additional questions or comments from the committee? Seeing none, again, we thank you very, very much. Councilmember Thomas, good?

Thank you.

Thank you. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you very, very much.

Give me a hug, maybe. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: We will now proceed with public comment on Bill No. 240059. 240059, ETC. I ask the clerk, if you could just call those who are here for public comment on 240059. If you have written testimony, I ask that you submit that for the record and summarize your testimony.

Abraham Pardo and Christine DeJesus. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Good afternoon. How are you? State your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.

Good afternoon. Christine DeJesus. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Please proceed.

Yes, my name is Christine DeJesus, and I am a NAC coordinator for the Frankford Community Development Corporation. I am here today to speak to you on the importance of the approval for Bill 240059 that would freeze property tax for low-income homeowners. As a NAC coordinator since 2013, I have personally witnessed the need for a freeze on property taxes for low-income residents. According to Pew Charitable Trust, among the most populous cities, none has a higher percentage of 240059, ETC. cost-burdened households with low incomes than Philadelphia. 69 percent of the cost-burdened residents have incomes below $30,000 a year. As part of our job as a NAC coordinator is to do home visits to those residents who are in danger of losing their home to either back mortgage or back property taxes. In Frankford, from January 2023 to present, we have serviced 132 homes, providing vital information and resources so they can retain their homes. This number only reflects Frankford's section of Philadelphia and does not reflect the entire city of Philadelphia. With the rise of recent property assessments, utilities, and merely the cost of living, it is difficult to make ends meet, especially to those who are on fixed incomes and are low-income residents. It is our job as Philadelphians to ensure the retention of homes to those who are most vulnerable. This is not a handout, but a hand up to those who need it the most. Thank you. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you. Thank you very, very much for your testimony. 240059, ETC. Abraham, please state your name for the record and proceed with the summarized version of your testimony.

Yes. Hi. Good afternoon. Abraham Reyes Pardo. I'm the VP of housing and diversion services at the Urban League of Philadelphia. The Urban League of Philadelphia is a multi-generational civil rights and social justice organization founded in 1917. I'm here to support Bill No. 240059, which could be an ordinance to amend Title of the Philadelphia 13 Code entitled Finances, Taxes, and Collections. 14 Philadelphia's poverty rate is 15 improving, but it remains the poorest big city in 16 America. Many of us in this room continue to 17 work toward making that change happen. Public, 18 private, and nonprofit sector doing their part. 19 But as we continue to learn, change takes time. The reality is that Philadelphia's geographic location and resources are privileged, as proven by the continuous influx of economic refugees coming to find a safe space, in many cases to achieve the sustainable homeownership they couldn't find outside of the city of 240059, ETC. brotherly love. Bad actors have taken notice as well, as we continue to see a speculative and predatory tactics to drive long-term residents out of their homes. One of the most recent examples being the tactics used by MV Realty to convince long-term residents of splitting their equity in the event they sold their home. These families were convinced to relinquish their generational wealth, thousands of dollars in exchange for a $500 payment. And some of this has to do with the long tradition of Philadelphia as a home ownership place. Whenever people bring up the argument about affordability, I always like to remind them of the differences between Philadelphia and places like California, New York, Boston. People in Philadelphia can still benefit from a naturally occurring affordable housing that the city offers, which can be sustained over time if we all do our part to support these families. Many of the thousands of individuals served through our first time home buyers program have the intention to age in place 240059, ETC. because that is a common phenomenon in Philly. Their investment and commitments to the neighborhoods will grow over time, in many cases outpacing their financial resources. From a data perspective, since Philadelphia's area median income data is mixed with the information collected from surrounding counties, the picture tends to be more optimistic. However, I know some group, and knowing that some groups are working to shift the paradigm around AMI collection, anecdotally, we can tell you that many of the families have incomes or many of those families have income situated below the $10,000 mark, a situation that can be worse depending on the neighborhood. Aside from our support, the only thing some of these families have on their side is the value of an asset they're holding onto. They know the most affordable housing is the one they're already living in. Thank you. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you. Thank you very, very much for your testimony and for the great work of the Urban League of Philadelphia and the work that you all are doing 240059, ETC. to help those access home ownership and maintain quality housing. So I just wanted to say thank you. And as a point of personal privilege, I have to share, and Abraham knows this, that I was able to go through first time home buyer education with the Urban League of Philadelphia. I think that was in 2006 or '07 now. So thank you all so very, very much for your great work. Will the clerk please proceed with calling the additional witnesses we have for public comment for Bill No. 240059? You can call all four so that they're ready to proceed.

Andy Toy, Kenneth Bigos, Janice Berrian, Louis Baum, and Diane Judson. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Excellent. Andy, you can state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.

Sure. Good afternoon, Chairperson Gilmore Richardson and city council finance members. Not sure who's still here. My name is Andy Toy and I am the policy director for the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations, or PACDC, and representing about 60 CDC members across the 240059, ETC. city. Thank you for the opportunity to testify before the finance committee in favor of Bill 240059, allowing for freeze on property taxes for low-income homeowners as determined by state level set for PACENET. Throughout our 30-plus year history, PACDC has consistently supported measures to protect low-income residents from displacement. Our advocacy has been based on a number of important factors. First, the stability of our neighborhoods is critical for ensuring an equitable Philadelphia and a good quality of life for residents. No residents should be forced to give up their home because of rising property tax assessments, and particularly in gentrifying neighborhood communities where these longtime residents have been neighborhood stewards during decades of disinvestment. We also know that the burden of increasing property taxes falls disproportionately on black and Latino households, who represent a large number of low- income homeowners. 240059, ETC. Additionally, as we've heard, a recent reinvestment study, fund study shows a concerningly strong correlation between race and inaccurate assessments that neighborhoods with larger shares of black and brown residents and low-income residents are more likely to be inaccurately assessed and over-assessed than others, even while they are less able to absorb the added cost. According to the reinvestment funds data analysis, up to 62,000 homes may be eligible to apply, with a potential $4.5 million in relief in the first year alone if we assume an application rate similar to the senior tax freeze. These outcomes align closely with the goals of our PACDC's equitable development policy platform of preventing displacement, preserving black and brown home ownership, and protecting what is often the most affordable home a family can have, as we've heard, the one they're already in. That being said, we also know that it is unlikely that all of those eligible for this program will be able to apply and receive the 240059, ETC. benefits. The byzantine nature of the city's property tax relief system makes determining the appropriate program or programs to apply for unnecessarily complicated. We look forward to working with city council and the administration to modernize our system of property tax relief to create one that is equitable, easy to use, and works for all eligible homeowners so that no family goes without the benefits they deserve. Again, we are excited to support Bill No. 240059. Thank you Councilmember Gauthier, and thank you for the opportunity to testify. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you. Thank you so much for your public comment. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.

Yes. Ken Bigos, executive director of the Affordable Housing Centers of Pennsylvania. Good afternoon, Councilperson Gilmore Richardson, and thank you for allowing me to make my testimony today. I'm here to express my support for legislation which permits the freezing of real 240059, ETC. estate taxes for low-income homeowners. Such legislation will provide support for these households to have stable housing payments that will and will not have them worry about the threat of gentrification and development that results in escalating property taxes. For many low-income homeowners, their home is the most affordable place they have. Philadelphians see their home as building a legacy which can be passed down to future generations. Some have an adult child who is disabled and feel that they leaving the home to him or her is necessary. Their limited income makes it difficult for them to make ends meet. Stability in their real estate tax payments is important as their condition prohibits them to earn additional income. In the last five years, there have been various areas throughout Philadelphia that have seen their property tax escalate rapidly, making it unaffordable for a low-income homeowner to continue to live there. For example, the 3,000 block of Capstreet in Brewerytown had their assessed value 240059, ETC. of their real estate taxes increase by 900 percent between 2018 and 2019. The updates in their assessments have given household homeowners sticker shock when they receive their real estate tax bill or when they receive their escrow adjustment for their mortgage company. I request that the members of city council extend a statement for the homeowners throughout the city eligible for protection under this bill, committing to not price them out. In addition, the cost to care for them through the Office of Housing, our support of housing will far exceed the additional tax revenue you wish to obtain. The city needs tax support, basic services of government, but there's a limit on how much you can ask for those of modest means to contribute. I find such legislation as being smart, effective, and a compassionate policy. Thank you again for allowing me to present my testimony today. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you, and thank you very, very much for your testimony. Please state your name for the record and proceed 240059, ETC. with your testimony.

Good afternoon. I'm Diane Judson. I'm a semi-retired bartender and have lived most of my adult life in University City. In 2006, I purchased my house from a community development organization for $75,000. The 15- home development was planned for low and moderate-income buyers and had a 15-year restriction on the deed, requiring that sales be to other income-qualified purchasers. The development consists of 1 single story handicapped unit and 5-room frame twins, 14 some with different lot sizes. Three of those houses were sold at the height of the real estate market. In 2022, my house was valued at $135,400. In 2023, that same 5-room frame twin was revalued at $506,100. It never occurred to me that there could be a 5-room frame house worth half a million dollars. Nevertheless, I appealed that valuation and explained that my house was in its original condition, while the houses that were sold had an additional bathroom, a finished basement, a new kitchen, and new carpeting. The greatest sale 240059, ETC. price was $401,000. After my appeal, the assessment was reduced to $380,000, still 2.8 times the prior year's valuation. It would result in a tax rate of $5,319 this year. I'm fortunate to have a senior freeze on my tax rate. Without it, I could not afford to remain in my home. I shared the experience of my appeal with my neighbors, hoping to assist them with their own appeals. My younger neighbors have had to manage without the freeze. It can't be the intention to tax low and moderate-income buyers out of the homes they've settled in, and yet this could be the result of such an increase. Many of my neighbors struggled with this. As I say, I'm fortunate to have the senior freeze. There are folks with three generations in their homes and small children. There are people who will soon retire to lower incomes. It's my hope that somehow the legislation you're considering could be backdated to the time when Governor Wolf signed the state legislation. That would help the folks in my immediate neighborhood. 240059, ETC. I'm glad to be able to help anyone in Philadelphia who needs to be covered by the freeze you're considering, but there's not additional help in this legislation for my neighbors, and I'm concerned about that. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you. I thank you very much for your testimony. Councilmember Gauthier?

Thank you for sharing your story. I realize that the bill is not a cure all. I'm not even sure if it was possible at all to go back to backdate it. And so my efforts have been focused on making sure that that doesn't happen again, but definitely willing to explain if there are other ways to help homeowners who are still struggling from the 2022 assessments.

We bought our houses at $75,000. Half a million dollars?

To be honest with you, I don't even understand why our model would include houses that people can't sell. You cannot, if you're restricted.

The 15-year restriction 240059, ETC. has expired.

Okay, I understand.

And that's why someone actually purchased her house for $400,000. Where they got 500,000 plus, I don't know, but none of us was budgeting for anything like that.

I understand that. Happy to keep chipping away at this issue and acknowledge that any bill is going to have limitations. This one is forward-facing. But I definitely appreciate you sharing your story, and if there's any way we can connect offline to see if there are ways that my office or others on council can help your neighbors, we're definitely willing to do that. And one thing comes to mind. I've been dealing with the same issue in my district, hearing from specific blocks where the assessments were just really off, and OPA did -- I asked OPA to be present at some of these block meetings, because neighbors requested not to just have this one on one engagement, but if a whole block is experiencing the same thing, people have 240059, ETC. asked to talk to OPA directly. And they did say that they were willing to do that type of engagement. So if that's something that you want to talk about offline, I'd be happy to facilitate that with you and your neighbors.

Yeah. When I heard about this hearing, I wrote to my neighbors and distributed the information and got a lot of positive response and encouragement to keep working on this. So yeah, I believe that my neighbors would like to participate in something like that.

Great. And I have staff here, so I'll ask that Andrew get your contact information, and we can talk about setting something like that up with your district council member present as well. But I'm sure he'd be fine with it.

You are my district council.

Oh, I thought you said Brewerytown, did you not?

Oh, University City. 240059, ETC.

Oh, well, then perfect. Let's work on that together. Thank you so much for your comment today. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you. I thank you so much, Councilmember Gauthier. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.

Yes. Good afternoon. I'm Louis Baum, and I'm a 40-plus year resident in West Philadelphia and a member of the 46 Ward Democratic Committee, RCO. I'm speaking for myself today. I support our citizens who have worked to build our existing communities while paying mortgages and taxes. They have a right to expect that our system will not suddenly and deliberately upend their lives after all the investments they have made. The bill before you may someday be helpful to some low-income homeowners. However - - therefore, I'm sorry, therefore, I support it. But we must be clear to ourselves and our constituents that the job is not done by any means. In most respects, it hasn't even started. 240059, ETC. Why? Most critically, the bill doesn't apply to earlier increases and so doesn't help people affected by the tsunami of recent assessments. Secondly, the program is capped with a sharp income cutoff that equates to about $15 an hour for a single person. For two adults, it's a little more, as long as only one works. Problem is that PACENET is designed for seniors and doesn't even consider how many children are in the household. A minor oversight. These are unfortunate but predictable limitations in the state-enabling law. Perhaps more work there would be fruitful, but effort should be focused in directions that are not needlessly hobbled by the state. The flyer supporting the bill, titled Defying Displacement, says that these are the same homeowners proven to be over-assessed by OPA's methodology. So this tax freeze provides immediate tempering of that effect. Unfortunately, there is nothing immediate here, except the current unaffordable assessment. If OPA's assessments have been proven to be incorrect, then why is council 240059, ETC. letting them persist? You have got to make it a priority to fix this and other errors, inequalities of the OPA process. Also, relief is needed to prevent huge market-based tax increases for people who are owners of property that was income-restricted when they bought it. If deed restrictions expire, there should be an option to renew. OPA should value based on the original restricted price. The idea that the bill does not cause a significant budget impact is not necessarily positive. We need strategy to address problems we are currently patching. We need to find ways to stop giving tax breaks, incentives, and bonuses to the well off so that money can go where it is needed. It's the special interest and the political status quo and tradition that have to be defied so that citizens and vulnerable communities are not displaced. I know I'm somewhat speaking to the choir, but thank you. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you, and thank you very, very much for your testimony 240059, ETC. and for all of your work within the community. Ma'am, please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony. You can pull the mic up.

Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Janice Berrien. I am speaking for my husband and I. We have lived in our home in southwest Philadelphia for 45 years. We have been homeowners for 55. We are retired. My husband will be 82 this year. I will be 78. And we really don't want to move, but the tax increases are pushing us out, it appears. We had an increase of our real estate taxes on our home, which amounted to 2.78 times. It started out in 2022. Our tax bill, which was affordable, was $1,402.60. In 2003, it jumped to $3,897.04. It was unaffordable. We are retired teachers, and we do get a pension, each of us, and we do have Social Security. So even though we might meet an age eligibility, we don't meet an income eligibility. We're wondering, as others have spoken, just the person before me, the incentives, we understand, to bring in new business and new 240059, ETC. people into our city. But what about those who have paid income taxes for 55 years, born, reared, educated here, and supported the city? What about us? Can't we be grandfathered in? Why do we have to share the burden? And I realize that the middle class is the pack mule, not just for Philadelphia, but the entire nation. We need to be considered, too. Can we stay in a home that we've been in for 45 years with the tax rate? Now, we fought this, but we paid. It was a cost. We paid, and our taxes were lowered instead of 2.78 times, maybe to 2 times. That's still unsustainable. What can be done so that we can keep our property and maintain it? COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Well, thank you very, very much for your testimony, for your service in this city as a former teacher, and also for just being a real stalwart in that community. We just thank you very, very much for your testimony and for the information you shared. I want to pass it to your district council member.

Thank you so 240059, ETC. much, Mrs. Berrien, for being here today and for sharing your story. I imagine that you've looked through all of the city's property tax programs.

We did. We do get the homestead, but we're not eligible for LOOP.

I was going to ask about that one.

And we're not eligible for the tax freeze. And so we're just left as senior, senior citizens. My husband is in his 80s and I'm waving at it.

I don't know off of the top of my head what we can do if you've explored all of our programs. But I'd love to just follow up with you to make sure that there's nothing that we're missing. And you're right, we absolutely want to keep homeowners like you who have been stewarding our neighborhoods for so long in their homes. So thank you so much again, and we'll follow up, Andrew, my staff member, sitting right over here to the left. Thank you.

Thank you so much. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you. 240059, ETC. Thank you very, very much for coming down today. Is there anyone else to testify on Bill No. 4 240059? Seeing none, we will now proceed with resolution number 240027. Will the clerk please call the entire first panel we have to testify on resolution number 240027?

Leland McMoore, Howard Griffith, Archibald Farley, Joseph Farley, Anthony Winston, Max Ray-Riek. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: And as they approach the witness table, we want to thank you all so much for being here and for your continued advocacy for our unhoused community. For the record, this resolution title is A Resolution Authorizing the Committee on Finance to Investigate the Operations and Significant Overspending of the Office of Homeless Services Under the Previous Administration, As Well As Quality of Services Provided in the Homeless Services System. As the department head for the Office of Homeless Services was not available to provide direct testimony for the hearing today, we will take testimony from the advocates, who will speak 240059, ETC. to the quality of services being provided in the system. We ask that you state your name for the record, proceed with your testimony, and we need you to summarize your testimony. So will the clerk please call the first witness to testify?

Leland McMoore. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Good afternoon, Leland. Good to see you. Please proceed with your testimony.

Hello, my name is Leland McMoore. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Hold on one moment, Leland. You have to pull the mic all the way up so that the stenographer can hear you. Thank you. SPEAKER A: Make sure you speak into the mic.

Hello. My name is Leland McMoore. I've been homeless since November. Excuse me. I've been seeking help, shelter and guidance from my peers and my community, but I don't know why I'm not getting help and why people pay taxes if it's not spent correctly. Example, I'm being told I had to be homeless on 240059, ETC. the streets for a year or go to housing shelters headquarters. And I'm being sent somewhere where I feel like it's prison. Living conditions is bad, and the food is horrible, and the staff is not respectful. That's all I have. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you, Leland, for your testimony, and thank you for being here this afternoon. I wanted to ensure that I know you were working with our office regarding a placement. I wanted to be sure to make that connection today. So I understand that there are some officials here from the administration who oversee the Office of Homeless Services. We were able to have a meeting with some of you with the leadership team of the Office of Homeless Services last week, and I apologize that I thought they would be here today. But I do want to make the connection because I know Leland in particular was working through AppleTree, and I had spoken with Bruce Johnson about him on Friday. So if we could connect him with someone from the administration 240059, ETC. so that you all could follow up, that would be helpful. Thank you, Leland, for your testimony. Will the clerk please call the next witness?

Howard Griffith.

Hello. My name is Howard Griffith, and I am homeless at the moment, and I was placed at Our Brothers' House, and the living conditions there are horrible. The bathrooms are stinky, dirty. The showers are worst of all, and the staff are very rude, and the food is horrible. I literally took a picture of a salad with rotten tomatoes in it. But that's as much as I have to say. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you very, very much for your testimony. And again, thank you all four for being here and for your continued work. Will the clerk please call the next witness to testify?

Archibald Joseph Farley. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Please state your name for the record and then proceed with your testimony.

Good morning. My name is Archie Joseph Farley. The shelter system here in 240059, ETC. Philadelphia has the idea that because you're homeless, you're not human anymore. You don't deserve to be treated as though you're a human being anymore. In someone's eyesight and the people that work in these places, you're nothing but a dollar sign. You're their next paycheck. They will promise you the world. But at the end, you're still left wondering what happened. The shelter system has people that are working and that have their own agenda, that they believe that because you're homeless, that they have a right to treat you any way they want because no one else cares about you. You're in the shelter system. Nobody else cares about you, so why should we? I'm part of an agency called CARP. We do volunteer work in Kensington area, and we try to show people that just because you're in a situation doesn't mean that you're not human, and that you deserve to be treated just as well as anyone else. That old saying I have here, one paycheck and one mistake from being in the same situation as anybody out here that's homeless in the street. 240059, ETC. And if we as collective people don't realize that and we all get together, be on the same page, it's going to get worse before it gets better. Thank you for letting me speak. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you. And I just briefly wanted to say thank you all for your testimony. I had the opportunity to meet with you all, I think, twice now last week and also be out with you on Friday morning. And I just want to thank you for the work that you all are doing to really help us raise the advocacy on this issue. And you are right. I think people, it's easy to write people off, right? And that's the reason why this is so important to me, because you should not be written off. You are a part of our community. You're a part of our Philadelphia community. And with all of the taxpayer dollars that have been extended and expended on this issue of homeless services, to the tune of more than $129 million. When you add city revenue and grants revenue just from last year, it's obvious that more work must be done in order to adequately 240059, ETC. address the issues that you all are facing relative to accessing housing in our city. And so that is the impetus for the resolution and for the continued work that I will do in this area. And I just appreciate you all being here to further underscore how the quality of service is also an issue that we must seek to address while we are addressing the financial and/or the fiscal issues that we have found out about thus far. But it's very important to me that while you all are here being participants in this process, that you are connected to city service. And so I just wanted to state that again for the record. Please state your name and proceed with your testimony.

Hi, my name is Anthony Winston. I've been homeless over about three years, but going through the homeless shelter system for about a year. Let's see. I've been in Center for Hope, I've been to Philly House, I've been to Station House, I've been to Coffee House program. Each one is different. I see Philly House, you have lights 240059, ETC. that stay on hours a day. You go to sleep about 7:00, 7:30. But you have to try to fall asleep because you have lights on. It makes you sleep-deprived. It does. I don't know who can't sit there and say it doesn't, because it does. Let's see. Center for Hope, there's a lot that has to be done there. It's a lot. You have rats infested. You have, most of the majority of the time, the elevator doesn't work, and you have handicapped men who live on the second floor who have wheelchairs, push cart pushers. Now they sometimes either have to walk two flights, three flights of steps just to get upstairs, or they had to take the back elevator, which they have to go through a whole nother store just to get to the elevator. Let's see. Station House, you get kicked out. You go there to 1701 Lehigh. You go over probably about 11:30 at night. You get a bed about 12:00. You get let out about 5:30 in the morning and get told either walk to where you got to go or try to wait for the van to come and pick you up, just take you back to 804 or to 240059, ETC. AppleTree. And they drop you off and they just send you on your way. They don't tell you nothing to give you any type of information or nothing. They just sit you out front and tell you to just sit there and wait. I don't know if I'm leaving anything out, but other than that, this system really has to be really thought about because some people have mental issues, some people have drug issues, some people don't have no issues at all. It's just that they don't know how to go about and get information. They have to hear it from a person like me on the street, who's trying to do better for not just myself, but for everybody around me. I have to relay the information from people who are working either in city or churches. There should be a lot more than just going to certain places and getting us a piece of paper and letting us know that this place is giving us meals and this place is giving us clothing and stuff like that, and showers and stuff like that. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Well, I want 240059, ETC. to thank you for your testimony and for your advocacy and the work that I've been seeing you do on the ground working with others. I just want to say thank you, and Mr. Archie as well, I had the opportunity to even see you before we met when I was also out in the community for four hours with my colleague, Councilmember Lozada down in Kensington a couple Fridays ago. So I'm very happy that you all are here and sharing the work that you all are doing. Will the next witness we have to testify please state your name for the record and then proceed with your testimony. And again, I want to state for the record that we had a number of questions specifically for the Office of Homeless Services that we have submitted in writing for additional follow up relative to the fiscal and the quality service provisions, and we anticipate that we will call this resolution again for the hearing on June 5th. But if you could please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.

Hi. My name is Max Ray240059, ETC. Riek. I'm a member of ACT UP Philadelphia. For the past two years, we've been doing outreach at the Office of Homeless Services intake center at 1430 Cherry Street, and I've been privileged to hear some of the stories that people have told coming in and out. I haven't personally experienced homelessness in Philadelphia, but I wanted to tell a story that a colleague who couldn't be here shared with me. She's staying in a Philadelphia shelter. A resident in her room got sick and vomited. Unfortunately, she was unable to get to the bathroom. And the staff didn't have anybody doing janitorial services. There wasn't anyone with that role in the program. They didn't have a protocol for bodily waste disposal, and they didn't have the supplies for cleaning up a wet spill. They told my friend that they would give her a carton of cigarettes if she cleaned it up herself. They handed her some bleach and said, "Just pour bleach over the mess." She said that, "I know how this works. That's not how you're supposed to clean it up." She did her best to clean it up. 240059, ETC. She never got the cigarettes that were promised to her, but to me, this is an example of the mismanagement of funds at the Office of Homeless Services. It seems highly unlikely that they entered a contract that didn't include funding for basic cleaning services for a residential program. So either they allowed an underbid contract that didn't make any sense to go through, or there's funding for that cleaning crew and cleaning materials that never materialized at the shelter. And somehow that money that should have been spent taking care of my friend never materialized, or the whole, they never did a basic inspection, but somehow there was a gap. And ultimately, the responsibility is on the Office of Homeless Services that they're not overseeing their contractors to be able to provide really basic human decency, like cleanliness in our shelter system. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you. Thank you very, very much for sharing that story, and thank you for the work that you do on a daily 240059, ETC. basis to work with our unhoused community here in Philadelphia. And we look forward to continuing to work with you all to ensure that the city is providing the best possible service and that we are figuring out what happened and how to prevent it from happening again so that we can service more people and have better quality of service at the point of need. So thank you very, very much for your testimony, for your service, and for the work. You can --

Thank you for your advocacy on this issue. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Pardon me?

Thank you for your advocacy on this issue as well. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: No thank you necessary. This is what we're supposed to be doing. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.

Malcolm Gantt. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Proceed with your testimony.

Good afternoon, ma'am. I'm 240059, ETC. here today, and I felt it was very important to come here today because -- I'm sorry, sir. Although you may see a few people, there's a huge population of homeless people. And I mean, not just people that are in and out of the shelters. There are people that literally sleep on the sidewalks. I walk past them on a daily basis. As far as my opinion of just homeless services being offered, they are woefully inadequate. As I heard gentleman speak on Philly House, I've ran the whole -- I've been through the whole Philly House, Outley House, Station House 1701, which is the intake center. And not only have I suffered in human treatment, being treated like a dog. And I say to anybody that'll listen, I've never in my life been so disrespected as a man. These shelters, as he said, you get put out 5:00 in the morning. What can you possibly do at 5:00 in the morning? You can't go find a job. There's nothing to do. So people end up drifting the streets. And what I found in my experiences that you drift around in the streets, you go to a place like The Hub right below us. 240059, ETC. And I spoke with a reporter last year. Her name was Sophia. She worked for KYW 1060. And I explained to her then that The Sub -- The Hub, I'm sorry, The Hub offered almost zero services. What you did was went there, you sat down in a chair, you were given a juice box, a snack. But I would ask about, well, what about housing? What about different services? And I got rebuffed every time. And because I refused to take the disrespect that the employees of the shelter system gave out, what I found myself was blocked from services, banned from shelters, put out on the street. I can remember real quickly, just last January, I was in the shelter system and I caught COVID and pneumonia. Now me, I'm disabled. I have asthma, emphysema, and COPD. I was sick as a dog, and I would go to 1701 to just to have a bed overnight. I got turned away for two weeks. Two weeks, I slept on the street with COVID. And I don't really want to put the woman's name out there, but yeah, I will. Robin, she works at the intake center. Well, she worked at the intake 240059, ETC. center at the time because I ended up getting banned from there because I wouldn't take disrespect from another employee who made a false report that I threatened an employee. This was October 16th of last year. I got a six-month ban from the shelter system, so I was supposed to sleep on the street, based on a lie. This system is broken. It is broken from top to bottom. The facilities are horrible. I think prisons are better, because I can remember being at Outley House, 69 from Woodland, and the bathrooms were broken. So we were being -- what did they call it? I forget whatever it was. We went and stayed for one night, and the place was dilapidated. There was no bathroom, and you had to go across a yard in the door, down the steps, down the hallway to go to the bathroom. And it was only two stalls. Yes. Excuse me. There were about 40 men sleeping there. And I'm talking about these conditions were persistent. You talk about nastiness, I've never been in nastier places because jail is not part of my story. Yet, in the shelter system, there 240059, ETC. are no clean places. " And I think that is terrible. I think it's beyond terrible. It's sad, because, again, when I look at my peers, and these are -- a lot of these gentlemen, I've stayed in places with them. Listen, we go through the same thing, and it's actually disgusting that human beings are treated like this, because at the end of the day, I worked in this system 34 years ago. I worked at 1360 Ridge Avenue, which was a drug and alcohol shelter. And I believe we may have met over in Love Park. " People end up in this place, and it's not just because they're worthless. It's because things happen in life. And I found myself, 34 years later on the other side in the system.

And how about there are still people in this system that I knew from 34 years ago still 240059, ETC. stuck in this system, and it's just a constant cycle of mistreatment. You get fed. I think hogs get fed better than we do. And no, nobody owes us a ribeye steak. A decent meal. The other part is I can remember at Outley House spending the night, and in the morning, they give you a little thing of cereal and a carton of milk and kick you out the door. As he said, they tell you to walk off. That was their favorite term. " You're at 69 from Woodland. You have to make it all the way down to 804 or the AppleTree. And it's crazy because in my experience -- and this is my first time homeless. I've been homeless for a year and a half, I spent nine months asking, "Well, what about housing? " If I would ask staff, they would yell and argue at me, and it's just sad, because what I see is people getting beat down. You're already in a bad position, and you're getting beat down by the people who are supposed to be helping you. There is no help in this system. I 240059, ETC. will ask about housing. I can remember being a resident at Outley House, and I'll be brief, but I can remember being a resident at Outley House and being assigned a case manager. And I lived in the annex because I'm disabled, because as he said, they put me on the fourth floor. I could barely walk up a few steps without having to stop and take my breath. " They asked me to prove it. The next day, I went to Einstein Hospital and I went to Temple Hospital. I came back with two folders, this big, and the lady, she didn't even read this stuff. She moved me to the first floor, to the annex. And at that point, I realized one of the biggest failings of the shelter system is what they don't take in that account is, as my peers said, they don't take into the fact that a lot of people suffer from mental problems. I suffer from mental problems, drug abuse. Those are the two biggest issues that are not addressed, period, anywhere in the shelter 240059, ETC. system. They're not even a thought in the back of somebody's mind. Those are the two most prevalent issues to me that need to be addressed to fight homelessness. And my own personal story, I take a lot of medication. I'm disabled. I had a lady, matter of fact, the same lady at 1701, Robin. They had a van to take you to Outley. They were making people catch the bus, yet they didn't give you a pass since they catch the bus. They said, "Just tell the driver you're homeless," which didn't work. And I explained to her, like, "Listen, you may see me. " I had paperwork in my bag. I gave her my Social Security paper that said that I was permanently disabled. You know what this ignorant woman said? She said, "That don't mean you disabled. " And this is a constant theme among us. It's these uncaring 240059, ETC. people who don't give a damn, and I watch my peers go through. I suffer from it myself because, listen, ma'am, I was a homeowner from 2001 to 2021. I sold my home in 2021. I found myself in this situation. So I'll be damned if I'm going to be treated like anybody's dog. " And a lot of nights I had to spend outside because I'm not willing to accept that. And the situation is terrible, but I want to see the time and allow somebody else to speak. Thank you guys for allowing me to have a voice. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Well, thank you very, very much for being here and for sharing your story.

Yes, ma'am. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: I really, really appreciate you helping us understand what is actually happening and what you are going through in real time. I just want to acknowledge 240059, ETC. the presence of my colleague, who's the chair of city council's committee on housing and homeless services. That would be Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, for being here. But I really just can't appreciate you all so much because I know that through your testimony, through your advocacy, through the work that we will continue to do together, it will help to move the needle and improve the quality of service for the Office of Homeless Services here in Philadelphia. Colleague, you have any comments?

I just wanted to thank you as well. As we witnessed multiple times throughout our hearing today, it can be really hard to ask people to come up here and share traumatic experiences, but I do think that it's important to put a spotlight on some of the things that are happening so that we can make things better. So thank you so much for being brave enough to come and speak with us today.

You're welcome, ma'am.

Please state your name for the -- I'm sorry, ma'am, did you 240059, ETC. have testimony?

Yes. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: If you could just state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony, and then, sir, we will recognize you. Thank you.

My name is Gloria Monique Robinson. I have been homeless for the last 9 years. I am actually a 42-year-old born in Philadelphia, airborne Philadelphian female. I experienced my childhood in the homeless system when my surrogate mother had a boarding house and shared children doing surrogacy of just different governmental female businesses. She's a black woman and her family is Caucasian-based. It's a mixed family. How the housing of emergency system started was the fact that the females who were being divorced by the husbands couldn't take care of the businesses that were created here, black businesses here in Philadelphia, starting off with self-businesses for having judges, doctors, nurses, seamstresses, truck drivers, all kinds of industry-related families living here in the home. 240059, ETC. So under my household, I stayed to myself all the time. They did not want the electricity on, the water paid, barely TV usage or landline activity. And that was in -- I was born 1982, in the '80s. In the '90s, I had gotten tired. I was old enough to talk and able to speak, of course, going to public school every day, making it adamant that as a black female, to obtained a degree, some kind of education. So because of the prostitution and drug game, I never saw my family and I was never into anything but spiritually good, being born a Christian child and part Arabic, it makes me Muslim. The point is, I grew up, I went to the welfare to work program, had a child as a teenager. I had faced social drug issues such as marijuana usage and fornication. Just trying, sowing our oats, as child sowing my oats, had a child and did qualify for a split lease. Went through the shelter system as an adolescent and as a teenager was accepted to Philadelphia Housing Authority and where I met other females or whatever. So in the '80s, like I said, the '90s was really fine. It was not a 240059, ETC. really big problem here in the city of Philadelphia for the families to single female families. The male's shelter system was phenomenally awesome then too, because if you really didn't know males were homeless. But having said that, it was just the merge of the history of the shelter system, me having to experience that. So for the last nine years, I have been totally abused. So after going to school, I found myself leaving Housing Authority to go and find out, get some resolution 13 with the family, which is my mother and father. The mother wasn't paying the Housing Authority rent and had the other sibling's child there. He going to, and just totally at nighttime, if you guys get off work throughout the city at night, every residential homeowner or heirloom homeowner wants to come out and everybody wants to have fun. And in the morning, you see the nasty residual leftover. So which I totally apologize. I vented so much, they tried to throw me in a psych hospital and say I'm crazy. I'm a nurse. I really studied on my 240059, ETC. own and had to utilize the lives here, population here throughout the USA, on the east coast as a studying measurement factor to obtain that information and those big words, put them to use and try to put them together to make sense. So when I got in the shelter, these last nine years, I was waiting for some money. But the personnel, the administrative system is horrible. It's slow. There's not a time, there's not a history of people. The people who were in and out of the shelter from the '80s to 2000 are the most high top priority. They've lived here seniority-wise, but they do not come back to try to help out, volunteer. The administrative system is very abusive and they're mostly female. They're very sexual-oriented and related. As far as the homeless females and males wanting to utilize their checks and get them jobs, to go have sex with them and get money from them and take them little places. So as I pay attention to these problems, the food, they don't wash their hands. We cannot use Clorox.

The only germ fighter in the world is the Clorox 240059, ETC. here in the United States of America. And then we have them all sell on the market Clorox. You can get a gallon for a dollar and a quarter. They will not utilize and implement that as a helping measure to clean the toilets. The toilets are messed up. The people who are on drugs, the older community, as a younger administrative personnel, employees, they could teach, start advocacies to teach. They are doing it themselves as far as cleanliness. You know what I mean? With gloves and whatever. The necessary, essential need is, and it's very essential -- I've lived in 1428. That's as a single woman and as a pregnant young teenager woman, young adult. I lived in Hollywood on the 91921 area. I lived in -- where else did I live in? I've gone to a bunch of afterhour shelters over in west Philadelphia. Those afterhour shelters are fine. They're most better, because you do have to, as female, single female, get up. But the females are having sex with the males that work there at the shelter on staff and off of staff, and if you have -- they have this 240059, ETC. little click, little negotiating thing going. If you guys were having sex with each other, if you like this person, like that person, they'll let you in. You're more priority. And it's really become a very unprofitable business problem that is easily resolved. One of the resolutions ideas that I have is going to taking the Philadelphia program and going to the colleges here to find out if the collegiate undergrad students would like jobs there, because the education level for the city workers who feel like they need to be involved in a city when it's just a hidden drug hustle off our tax ID numbers. They're using our tax ID numbers and our dates of birth and names to utilize information in our accounts to make money with different computerized corporations, where we go maybe to Wendy's or the bank. You know what I mean? More so it's at the bank. So it's hard to even have an account when you get off of welfare, because we've really successfully smashed that welfare work program and completed the task of having urban female with young -- getting 240059, ETC. pregnant at a youthful age, go back to work and start counting on their own and taking care of themselves. Those females are fine. And then now we have those children left out in the street and back with the families. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you. I just wanted to recognize the presence of our council president briefly, who joined us and thank him for coming by.

Thank you. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: And if you could just summarize your testimony so we can get to the last witness. Thank you.

Yes, you're welcome. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you. Well, thank you for being here and for sharing your story.

No problem. Not a problem at all. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: That will certainly help us in how we address the quality of service issue that you all are referring to. Council President, any comments? Thank you very, 240059, ETC. very much for your attendance. Sir, please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.

Good afternoon. My name is Victor Rodriguez. I'm an activist, and I'm in support with ACT UP Philly. The reason I'm here today is because I personally wanted to see for myself inside the homeless shelters. Two weeks ago, I had went to OHS to explore and to see what's really going on. So I went in there, and I acted homeless. I am housed. I have an apartment. I went in there, and I asked to be placed in a homeless shelter. I actually picked a particular shelter called St. John's. The lady that I confronted that day, she said her director has told all homeless people to go to Philly House. From my experience talking to other people in Philly, I've been hearing a lot of bad rumors about Philly House. So I said, "Sure, I'll go to Philly House, but shouldn't you match me to a homeless shelter that I might feel more interested in?" And she said, "No, I think it's best that you go 240059, ETC. to Philly House." That was part of the director's initiative to send everybody to Philly House. So I went to Philly House. I did two days there, and while I was doing the explore while I was there, I noticed a lot of issues. For one, the lights are on all night. That's depriving. That is just absolutely wrong. I noticed a lot of interaction with the staff and the people that are residents there. They're just absolutely rude. The food is actually great, but just interaction with the staff, everything that goes on there, it was a lot of questions. And again, I did this explorer for myself. I wanted to see. I am an activist. I work with working families, so I wanted to go out and see for myself. I think we could do a better job as a community. I really do. I have a lot of friends who are homeless. I go out and talk to people every day, and I just wanted to come here and speak my mind and let you know that we can do better. It is a broken city. It really is, and I think we can do better. That's all I have to 240059, ETC. say. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Well, thank you very, very much for your testimony and for sharing your experience. And we can do better, which is why we're here. Any comments from the committee, Council President?

Thank you very much. I just want to thank you for just coming out and providing your testimony, most importantly, your activism around this particular issue. And you have our commitment under leadership of our majority leader, Councilman Katherine Gilmore Richardson, and the chair of our housing and homeless services committee, Councilman Jamie Gauthier, who are both right here with me, that as we move forward, we will be doing everything we can do, possibly to make sure that high quality services are supported for those who are homeless, but also those who are looking to become first-time home buyers, those who are looking for stable housing, as well as those with disabilities. And I've dealt with the same particular 240059, ETC. department with a cousin of mine and just navigating that whole system, and I'm elected official. But because he was disabled, the bureaucracy and the obstacles that were put in front of him, with me being an elected official made it harder for us to get him placed. And so our job is to make life easier for those who need support. And so I just want to stop and commend my colleagues for their hard work and their dedication around this particular issue. And we will be on a case to make sure we get it done right. Anything else is unacceptable. Thank you very much. (Chorus of thank yous.) COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you again to our council president for being here and my colleague, Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, who's also chair of city council's committee on housing. I thank you all again for being here. I want to also thank the administration and the Office of Homeless Services. For anyone who's here who needs service today, you can go up to my office in 581. And 240059, ETC. they have representatives from the Office of Homeless Services who are there. And so I just want to say thank you to the administration and to the Office of Homeless Services for making yourselves available up in room 581 for anyone who may know need service who's here today. So after the conclusion of the hearing, please proceed directly to room 581 to receive service. Are there any additional questions or comments from members of the committee or colleagues present? Seeing none, and there being no further questions for members of this committee or no 15 other witnesses to testify, this concludes the business before the Committee on Finance today. Thank you all very, very much for your attendance. Until next time, have a good day.

Thank you.

Got one for you to sign. COUNCIL CHAIR RICHARDSON: Yes, I'll sign it now.

Thank you for -- - - 240059, ETC. CERTIFICATE OF TRANSCRIPTIONIST I, HILLARY MADETE, Legal Transcriptionist, do hereby certify: That the foregoing is a complete and true transcription of the original digital audio recording of the proceedings captured in the foregoing matter. IN WITNESS THEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 27th day of May, 2024. ______________________________________ Hillary Madete