COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC HEARING AND PUBLIC MEETING BEFORE THE COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Thursday, June 1, 2000 8:45 a.m. - - - BILL 000338 - Held at request of Administration. BILL 000345 - An ordinance authorizing transfers in appropriations for Fiscal Year 2001 within Grants Revenue Fund from the Director of Finance - Provision for Other Grants, to the Mayor - Office of Housing and Community Development. PRESENT: COUNCILWOMAN JOAN L. KRAJEWSKI, Chair COUNCILMAN RICHARD T. MARIANO COUNCILWOMAN DONNA REED MILLER COUNCILMAN BRIAN J. O'NEILL - - - VINCENT VARALLO ASSOCIATES, INC. Registered Professional Reporters Eleven Penn Center, Suite 600 Philadelphia, PA 19103 (215) 561-2220 /00 - APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE I N D E X Herbert Wetzel, Redevelopment Authority. . . . /00 - APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE P R O C E E D I N G S
Good morning. The Committee on Appropriations is now in session. Would the clerk please read the bill. I believe one bill is being withdrawn at the request of the Administration, which is what?
Bill No. 11 000338 is being withdrawn at the request of the Administration.
Bill No. 000345, an ordinance authorizing transfers in appropriations for Fiscal Year 2001 within Grants Revenue Fund from the Director of Finance - Provision for Other Grants, to the Mayor - Office of Housing and Community Development.
Who from the Redevelopment Authority is here? Please come forward. (Witness comes forward.)
Please state 4 /00 - APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE your name for the record.
My name is Herbert Wetzel. Madam Chairperson and members of the Committee of Appropriations, I'm Herbert Wetzel, the Executive Director of the Redevelopment Authority, and I'm here to support and speak on behalf of Bill No. 345. This bill would transfer funds from the Finance Department to the Office of Housing and Community Development for the purpose of funding the Acquisition Recycling Program. The Acquisition Recycling Program is a result of City Council hearings jointly conducted in June and November of 1996 by the Finance, Commerce and Economic Development Committee. Very often, the Redevelopment Authority condemns properties where the fair market value is exceed by the amount of outstanding City taxes and other municipal means, and even in cases where it does not exceed the fair market value, there are substantial municipal liens on properties. In this event, the RDA's payments are paid in the court and then forwarded to the City as satisfaction of those obligations 5 /00 - APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE at the time of settlement, rather than the property owner. For the purpose of maximizing Philadelphia's Community Development Block Grant Program, this transfer ordinance is employed to return those funds to OHCD, our funding agency, so they can be used for future acquisitions and subsequent recycling. I respectfully request the approval of this bill, along with a suspension of Council rules, so as to permit a first reading on today's calendar.
Thank you very much. Is there anyone else here to testify? (No response.)
That ends are Committee on Appropriations; now we'll go into our public meeting on Bill 000345. 6 /00 - APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE Councilman O'Neill?
Madam Chair, I move that Bill No. 000345 be reported out of this committee with a favorable recommendation and a recommendation that the rules of Council be suspended so as to allow for reading of the bill 8 at our next session of Council.
Therefore, that ends our hearing on Bill 000345, which will be reported out of this committee with a suspension of so rules as to permit first reading at the next session of Council. Thank you all very much. (Adjourned at 8:50 a.m.) - - - 7 C E R T I F I C A T E I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing proceedings of the Council of the City of Philadelphia of Thursday, June 1, 2000, were reported fully and accurately by me, and that this is a correct transcript of same. RE: COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS BILL NO. 000345 __________________________________, JOSEPHINE CARDILLO, Registered Professional Reporter