An ordinance amending Title 14 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Zoning and Planning," by defining Registered Community Organizations, the requirements for their establishment, and the parameters and expectations of notification.
This bill having been read on two separate occasions, the question is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, please call the roll.
Aye. The ayes are 15; the nays are two. A majority of all members present having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, please read the 12/13/12 - STATED - 2ND READING title of 120920.
An ordinance amending Title 14 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Zoning and Planning," by amending Section 14-905, entitled "Non-Accessory Signs," by permitting certain non-accessory outdoor advertising signs within the area bounded by 7th Street, Spring Garden Street, 6th Street, and Willow Street.
This bill having been read on two separate occasions, the question is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, please call the roll.
Councilwoman 12/13/12 - STATED - 2ND READING Quinones-Sanchez.
Aye. The ayes are 16; the nays are one. A majority of all members present having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, please read the title of 120 -- we have an amendment on 120823.
An ordinance amending Chapter 19-500 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Taxes and 12/13/12 - STATED - 2ND READING Rents - General," by changing the allocation of delinquent payments.
Thank you, Mr. President. I would like to offer an amendment to Bill No. 120823. The amendment clarifies our interest to have payments paid to the principal as opposed to penalties and interest first. It has been circulated, and I make a motion for its adoption. (Duly seconded.)
The amendment has been moved and seconded. All those in favor of the amendment? (Aye.)
The ayes have it. Bill No. 120823 has been amended and will be placed on our next 12/13/12 - STATED - 2ND READING reading at Council. Mr. Decker, 120955.
An ordinance amending Chapter 19-2400 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Hotel Room Rental Tax," by increasing the rate at which the Hospitality Promotion Tax is imposed and providing for terms for the deposit and distribution of the revenues from such additional tax.
Before we call for a vote, the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Jones -- I'm sorry; Brown.
Thank you, Mr. President. I wanted to seize the moment and underscore remarks shared with us by Councilman Kenney during the caucus session, and given the amount of work that's been done by all of the 12/13/12 - STATED - 2ND READING stakeholders on this, remind my colleagues that hospitality and tourism ranks No. 2 in the state, and when you add arts and culture to that, it ranks us even further. Ultimately, this bill equals about 52,000 jobs just for the City of Philadelphia and 80-plus thousand jobs statewide. So with all of that, I'm asking that my colleagues vote in favor of the bill. And again I want to say publicly a huge thank you to the Philadelphia Visitors and Convention Bureau, GPTMC, and the Hotel Association who collectively got together over the last week and do what we have to do always, figure it out. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilwoman. This bill having been read on two separate days, the question is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, please call the 12/13/12 - STATED - 2ND READING roll.
Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are 12/13/12 - STATED - 2ND READING zero. A majority of all members present having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, 120904.
An ordinance authorizing transfers in appropriations for Fiscal Year 2012 within the General Fund from certain or all City offices, departments, boards and commissions to the Director of Finance - Fringe Benefits.
Before we call for a vote, the Chair recognizes Councilman O'Brien.
Thank you, Mr. President. I would like to be recognized as voting no. I'll speak on -- my same logic will apply to all the bills inclusively from 120904 through 120913. I recognize that these issues are important to the City and they're important to various members of this City Council, but I also believe the binding 12/13/12 - STATED - 2ND READING arbitration issue for the firefighters is equally important. It represents a substantial financial obligation of the City. The two sides in this litigation feel very confident that they will be successful on appeal. However, in my experience, if a class action suit is filed on the federal level, monies are frozen in anticipation in the event of a possible settlement. I find it challenging that we in this City Council and the City government are not reserving funds in the eventuality that we will have to pay the bill at some point down the road. There's numbers being thrown around, and I don't pretend to be authoritative on each of these issues, but I will surmise from the hearings that we had yesterday that there's a $200 million figure that's bandied around. The actual cost, in my estimation, of the award is $66 million. The 200 million represents the cost of 12/13/12 - STATED - 2ND READING the contract over an eight-year period, three years retroactively and five years prospectively. There's also a $20 million projected savings that was never realized, but will be carried as a shortfall. I intend to oppose any transfer ordinance from this point forward until the potential liability is addressed by this legislative body. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilman. Bill No. 120904 has been read on two separate days. Before we do that, I recognize Councilman Goode.
Thank you, Mr. President. Let me start by saying Denny O'Brien is my good friend and colleague. In case you notice, we spend a lot of time sharing here, and I was not aware that he was going to be against these appropriations bills, although I 12/13/12 - STATED - 2ND READING understand his reasoning for it. I just want to make the record clear for the rest of my colleagues a few different things. Councilman O'Brien just spoke on a series of bills, although we're only voting on one right now. The one we're actually voting on is the largest of the bills for roughly $40 million. The largest chunk of that bill is actually to settle a dispute with the FOP. And so, in essence, we don't want to pit firefighters against policemen. This is money that was set aside from the same type of class action that Councilman O'Brien was talking about. So we absolutely should approve this bill to make sure the money is reserved to make the policemen whole. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilman. This bill having been read on two separate occasions, the question is 12/13/12 - STATED - 2ND READING shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, please call the roll.
Aye. The ayes are 16; the nays are one. A majority of all members present having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, 120905.
An ordinance authorizing transfers in appropriations for Fiscal Year 2012 within the General Fund to the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania.
This bill having been read on two separate days, the question is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker.
Councilwoman 12/13/12 - STATED - 2ND READING Quinones-Sanchez.
Aye. The ayes are 16; the nays are one. A majority of all members present having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, 120906.
An ordinance authorizing transfers in appropriations for Fiscal Year 2012 within the General Fund to the Police Department.
This 12/13/12 - STATED - 2ND READING bill having been read on two separate occasions, the question is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker.