Are more likely to receive municipal court code enforcement complaint, yes.
And you have an accurate record of those who have multiple violations?
And can you explain 33 the difference between the BAA and the OAR?
Yes, the BAA is responsible for parking ticket violations and appeals. And the OAR handles code violations, burglar alarms, red light camera violations and a variety of other appeals.
Well, for OAR it really ranges a whole variety of code violations related to the Streets Department, L&I, they have to do with trash violations, quality of life violations, burglar alarm registration and fees, those sections of the code. But we also handle, as just said, red light camera violations. We have the Tax Review Board that handles appeals for a whole variety of taxpayer appeals, so.
Okay. And my last questions, and at the end if I could provide your office with a list of questions and you can have them answered and provide it to the Chair I would appreciate it. What are your biggest challenges with the multiple codes, the different sections, the collections, the process that you have, what are your biggest challenges?
I think our biggest challenge is for code violations and alarms is compliance. The initial purpose and policy behind these code violations, and even the alarm and registration of fined sections was to encourage behavioral changes in our citizens, their quality of life. As you see in your District, they're quality of life violations. The purpose is not to fine people or to create revenue necessarily. The purpose behind these code 35 violations is to encourage our citizens not to do these things. Don't put your trash out too early, don't have false alarms that require police resources to come and check your house because your cat set off your burglar alarm. Make sure that if you have a dumpster behind your business it's well kept, it's not graffiti covered, it has the correct licensing. So, we're really attempting to create opportunities where we can remind citizens that they need to follow these rules, these guidelines, these laws so that all of us who live in Philadelphia can have an improved quality of life in our neighborhoods and business district. So, compliance and response is really our biggest challenge.
Okay. I am just going to add another question we can just provide it to the Chair, the amount of violations, people who fail to report and are guilty in absentia.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Council Member Jones.
This is just a follow-up of my serious colleague there. What role does the broken window law play within this? Do you collect also L&I violations or go after that?
So, if I'm following this, we have about a half dozen different collecting entities within the City of Philadelphia? So, you have the Parking Authority, ou have OAR, you have -- so how many do we have that actually have the ability to go out and collect?
Well, it's more compliance as opposed to collect I guess. Well, L&I --
L&I collects, fire collects on EMS, Revenue Department collects, 37 Streets Department collects for the commercial trash set out. So, yes, you're right.
There's about a half dozen entities that all have a similar function, which is not to judge what the violation was, that's not the issue here, but they have the function of a collection agency designed to bring in those violations and revenues that are assessed. Something we need to maybe take a look at by way of consolidating that effort and really professionalzing that effort in an effort to get more revenue, something, but I am going to move on from that good point, Colleague, for bringing that out. I want to talk about for a second of the 2,956 Philadelphia properties held by non -- 2,300 -- and of them held by 19 non-Philadelphia owned delinquent taxpayers. I 20 want to talk about the fact that that represents $28 million worth of revenue that we don't get. That many of them and 78 percent of all of those delinquencies are four-years-old. That 21.62 percent of those delinquencies are 38 years or older and that the City owns about $6,969,000 worth of those properties, so those are my number s.
Yes. These are a 7 lot of properties, we're talking about the 8 possibility of full valuation, we're going to 9 discuss that today. But, again, my theme is 10 that if we already have taxes on the books, we 11 already have receivables that can be collected, 12 what are we doing about that? And in particular that some of these bad neighbors don't live in Philadelphia and own other nice properties in other municipalities where they're paying their taxes on. That's like a double slap in the face. I am not going to pay you and I am going to pay Montgomery County, Delaware County their money because they're serious about it.
Right, and I should say that we have also, I mean, gotten much more aggressive about our tax revenue collections. And one of the ways we've been doing this, and 39 you asked that question about this before that we're looking into, is increasing the number of sheriff sales. We used to bring 100 a month and we've increased that to about 600 a month, and one of the things we're finding is that just because that has happened people are settling out before they even get to sheriff sale. We also last year sent letters out to all first time delinquents, so there were about million of them from sending that letter 11 out, we got about four-and-a-half million 12 dollars worth of collections. So, we're taking 13 a number of steps, and when Revenue is here Monday they can go into more detail on it, but I hear you. I mean, we have to be as aggressive as is possible to get every dollar that's owed to us, particularly at a time when we need more resources.
President Clarke is looking at the possibility, and these are broken down, Mr. President, by ZIP code where they are in our respective districts, but what comes to mind is the fact that some of them are heavily concentrated in some of the poorest 40 areas of our city. And if, in fact, your legislation that you're considering about development districts where we've kind of taken an approach, an aggressive approach, of getting site control of some of these so that we can batch properties together to offer to developers seems like a -- it seems statistically that these delinquencies match that legislation as a potential for bringing revenue into the City of Philadelphia, so something I would like, and the President in his role up there kind of can't get into the debate, so he has asked me to do it for him. So, as we start --
As we start to come up with solutions that have a match legislatively, and we're going to look to the Administration to actually look at some of these as potential solutions before we go do anything else.
I concur, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Council Member Oh.
Thank you, Mr. President. Could you go back to the Office of Public Data?
The consolidation of these various types of functions into one entity that is to because there is inconsistent standards and multiple city departments and to create and manage a cohesive program, efficient collection, maintenance and distribution concerning city property, does that include real estate?
And does that also include different assessments of value of real estate? 42
Well, we wouldn't be doing -- the actual assessment is done by the Office of Property Assessment, but they will be making sure that, you know, the addresses that the Office of Property Assessment have will be consistent with addresses that the fire department has or that records has. So, they make sure the data is consistent. They don't do the property assessment.
Okay. So, if there is a vacant lot or if there's a building that has an address, they're just making sure that everybody who makes a response to that data has consistent data?
Okay. So, they do not in any way evaluate the condition or the value of the property in question?
Okay. On I noticed that there is an increase for potential Workers' Compensation claims of $1,845,000. And I was wondering, you know, what was the 43 basis of that?
Okay. Thank you. I'm just curious about, and a discussion for another time, basically how our city and county deals with assigning public defenders because it's somewhat been the practice in Philadelphia that if you come into court and you're unrepresented you will get a public defender, whereas in the outlying counties there is a lot more strict standards about who is unable to afford counsel. And with the limited dollars that are there, and I'm all for funding, you know, we need to have representation for those accused, but I see there is a lot less money for Community Legal Services and for Child Advocates coming out of that pool.
I'm sorry. We need a lot less money -- I am not sure I follow that. 44
Oh, you're saying there's a lot less for CLS then for the Defender.
And for child advocates, which seems to be competing dollars.
Well, they get conflict cases. So, cases that defenders conflicted out of go to the other -- to the CLS and support center. So, the Defenders is the main provider.
I'm just concerned that we have a consistent process of ensuring that people are truly not able to afford an attorney --
-- so that the dollars may be shifted to, for example, the child advocates and others.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Council Member Bass.
Great. Just a couple of really quick questions for you. Okay, so, going back to follow-up on Councilman Oh's question in reference to the Defenders Association and CLS, so the Defenders Association receives approximately, what was it, about $36 million was it?
36.2 and 800,000 for CLS. And do you know what the total 46 Defenders Association budget is or?
There is a federal portion that's not included in here, but I am not sure how much that is.
Okay. And the other question I had was in reference to the Office of Property Data, which is a new office that's being opened up.
And just an idea, I was curious as to whose idea, you know, how did this idea come up for this new office? Is this something that's done in other cities or are we modeling this after, you know, someone else who has done this successfully and, you know, what was the thought behind creating the office?
The thought behind creating it was when we realized how bad and inconsistent our data was. And it made us realize that we really needed to do something 47 to make it consistent and reliable. It was really Senior Administration officials talking it through and deciding that that's what we needed to do. There was -- I think we gave as a response to one of the TRANs ordinance 6 questions, this table shows what the data process looks like now.
And so their job is to make this into something understandable.
Okay. All right. And it sounds like this new office would be somehow connected or it would make sense that if we were able to have a land bank, which I know that Councilwoman Quinones is proposing, that this would be something that would make sense to interface with a land bank here in the City of Philadelphia.
Would you be, you know, supportive of that? Because it seems from what I have read that Administration feels that it may be too premature to move forward on a land bank and not want to rush into things. So, I just want to, you know, be clear that you think this is something that -- if it has merit and would be good for the City.
-- and we owned that property, it would be something that the Office of Property Data should have a good handle on.
Thank you, Councilwoman. Mr. Dubow, real quickly. Councilman 49 Jones referenced the version of the proposal that we put together related to development districts and dealing with vacant property. What's the status of that or who -- and I know we've had some conversations -- but where are we in terms of identifying the person who will move that process forward? And I see your chief here.
We've got to move it on a couple of the other issues, and my conversation with the Mayor, but we haven't quite gotten there on this particular issue.
Yeah. So, that would be Ann Adams from my office. I know she had one meeting, right, and so we, you know, we do want to push that along, so we'll make sure that moves along.
The last time I referenced it at a public hearing, a particular issue got a little movement, so I'm trying it again to see if we can get a little movement on that one given the conversation relating to, you know, getting public property 50 back on tax roll, getting vacant land back on tax rolls. All right. Thank you. The Chair recognizes Council Member Henon.
Thank you, Council President. Not to say I'm redundant, because we're going to ask this question over and over again regarding the Office of Property and Data. In reference to your testimony you had mentioned that you're working with different departments to standardize the property data. Can you provide a list to the Chair all the different entities, the departments that you're currently working with?
And their property assessments, and I don't mean the OPA, I mean the --
The assessments for 51 their properties and gathering the property data and what they are compiling, the types of data sets that you are compiling as you're assessing these properties?
The one -- yes. I think I understand what you're asking for. Is it what each office responsibility for property is and what kind of data they have now?
Well, each department -- well, many departments let's just say. Many departments are doing their own property assessments. Maybe they're --
They are collecting their data to bring it up to 2012 technology, all right, so we can have a single point of data in their own respective department.
I think that's what 52 they're doing. You, the Department of --
The Office of Property Data is a little more -- is a lot more comprehensive, I would imagine, so what I'm asking for is if you could provide a list of the departments that you are currently dealing with so we know, and what types of data sets and assessments and property data gathering that you are doing, performing right now.
We can provide that. The one -- yes, we can provide that. (Inaudible) having us use the word assessment, but I think I understand.
I know. Listen, I don't want to confuse it, because you're going to have a rough day ahead of you here with that, so, just your --
And what is or what 53 are the desired outcomes and goals that we're trying to accomplish and what's the timeline on this?
Now, I have one last question, it's regarding risk management. Is that another time today or should I ask that question now?
All right. Can you tell me with regards to Risk Management how many claims and clients Risk Management currently has, or you can provide this to the Chair.
But I am looking for the amount of claims and clients that they have. I am looking for, if you could tell me, the settlement rate -- 54
-- that they have. Now, it's my belief that Risk Management has been a reputable insurance agency for many years. Has there been improvements over the last four years in their settlements and third-party insurers or subrogation?
And I want that, yeah, over the last three years just if you could just compile that data and provide it to the Chair.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Council Member Green.
I have some general questions, but while the new Office of Property Data is there I just have a quick follow-up question. During the testimony of the Records Commissioner yesterday she said that basically they've worked with this new office to take the data that they have in their databases and sort of transfer it over and keep it up to date. And I'm wondering if there's -- how this is working. Is there one database that has the property that the Office of Public Property Data is adding fields to that would not be in the records department, but that if you have access you can see those fields, if you don't, you don't, or are we keeping two separate databases that have to be separately updated because, you know, we haven't --
And I think in the end you would want one database. I don't think that database exists yet, that's what we want to move towards.
So, will the database created by this organization be the 56 official database of records? Will records still have its own database? In other words, if you're starting with a core set of data in somebody's database, you want to add in that database so that you're not creating two sets of data that could end up being different over time.
Right. And the problem now is just that, that we have not two, but multiple different data sets that are in --
So, in the end you'd want them integrated so that there'd be one set of data.
So, what will be the master database with unique identifiers associated with property and business licenses in the City? Will it be in this entity? Will it be somewhere else?
Yeah, I think most likely it would be in this entity in the end, but I think that's part of what the office is going to determine as it goes through this process 57 where that should reside.
So, right now this entity is an aggregator of disparate data from departments putting it in a separate database --
It has got to do more than that. There's not -- it's not like everyone has reliable data separately and we're just putting it together. I think part of what they have to do is make sure that we have accurate data and that the way we go about compiling data is done in a more efficient way and that the integration and coordination is better than kind of with the system we have now where everybody is doing their own thing.
Sure. This is something though as we roll out technology should take care of itself in the sense that every -- if every form has a field, every field has a requirement to go into one central database based on your access, you can see all of it, some of it, what is relevant to your department, et cetera, rather than having separate databases, we need one database with 58 different access levels and permissions. And, so, I'm just --
And it's not just technology. It's technology and your work processes and making sure that people have kind of consistent approaches to data and how we collect it.
And that's within the departments, though, isn't it? I mean, you got to change the workflow process in a department in order to get reliable data from that department.
That's right, and that's part of what the office will be doing.
How does this combine with the other efforts where they're looking at work -- I mean, there are other efforts undertaken, for example, in Procurement. They're hiring a business analyst to look at just the issue of work flow processes and what technology they can implement. It seems to me like there is other efforts I am aware of in government, you and I are both aware of, that are sort of doing the 59 similar things --
I'm not sure I understand this, but I don't want to spend a whole lot of time on it. I'm sure you're doing it because you think it's a good thing and so maybe we can talk off-line about this.
Okay. Can you give me an update on the AVI related information requests from last week's hearings that we made?
Yeah, I think there were -- you asked for some opinions from Council and they're working on those. You asked for the split between commercial and residential and we actually have that answer, we're just putting it together, it's about 56/43.
Right. We don't know where it will be afterwards and so we're 60 kind of putting together responses to all the stuff that you asked for.
Thank you, Councilman. Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown.
First, let me thank you for honoring the request of a couple of Council Members to provide a compositional breakdown of your department.
And to know how much we appreciate that. Are there any positions in your department that are grant funded or are they all civil service?
So, we have a number of deputy finance directors. We have assistants to the finance directors, those are exempt positions, so my position is exempt. The heads of the various offices are all exempt other than the head of accounting I think. I think all the other heads of offices are exempt.
Okay. The one contract that simple strikes my interest, and this may have been covered, the ACS State & Local Solutions.
I believe -- I'm sorry. This is Cathy Paster. I'm First Deputy Finance Director. We are actually still looking at the -- right now the information says no, and I 62 think that ACS is not, we do have some numbers on how many employees they have in the City, but they were recently bought out by Xerox so we were kind of trying to check to see how they fit in that category or not. So, that's where we stand with that right now.
Then it would be difficult to answer the question do they employ local citizens, Philadelphians.
I think they have -- right. For ACS they have approximately I think 75, is that the right number, 75 employees in the City. I don't know how many Xerox has, so it gets rather large to try to figure that one out.
Okay. And can you speak to how much they have collected on behalf of the City each year that they've had the contract? Have they met the prescribed or agreed upon expectations?
Yes, they have. And we did go through that a little bit. I think last year they collected about $11.3 million.
We actually just re-did the contract in July of '09, so I guess it will be '13, in July '13.
It's one year with extensions. And because we're happy with the job they're doing, we've been giving them the extensions. So next year, next July.
All right then. And then lastly could the OEO Director please come back to the witness table. (Witness approached).
I did not fully hear your answer to Councilman Oh's question with regards to how the City works with law firms and what procedures or steps you go through to ensure that women and/or people of color in law firms get opportunity.
I said one of the things we're doing for this year is looking at 64 how we can acknowledge the partners in law firms that manage the City's account, they are billable partners, so they would get credit for bringing that business to that firm, so we're looking at how we can track those dollars, acknowledge the law firm, and report them in our report.
We're looking at that for fiscal year '12, so it would be this fiscal year and we're looking at how we can track those dollars.
Well, talking with the law department, chief counsel, and acknowledging the fact that we do have a major law firm that has a partner who is managing our account. And so the question was how can we count or at least give credit to that firm for the dollars because the partner basically acts as an enterprise within that organization.