COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE ON FINANCE Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Tuesday, March 3, 2026 10:18 a.m. PRESENT: COUNCILWOMAN KATHERINE GILMORE RICHARDSON, CHAIR COUNCILWOMAN CINDY BASS, VICE-CHAIR COUNCILMAN MIKE DRISCOLL COUNCILMAN CURTIS JONES, JR.
250769, 251066, 260021, 260112, 260113 - - -
Good morning. Good morning. Thank you all so much for being here. I now note that the hour has come to begin today's hearing. Clerk, will you please call the roll to take attendance. Members who are in attendance will please indicate that you are present when your name is called.
I am present. Thank you. A quorum of this committee is present and the hearing is now called to order. This is the public hearing of the Committee on Finance regarding Bill Nos. 250769, 251066, 260021, 260112 and 260113. Clerk, will you please read the title of the bills.
Bill No. 21 250769, an ordinance amending Title 20 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Officers and Employees" by changing the compensation of members of the Zoning Board of Adjustment, all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 260112, an ordinance authorizing, generally, the continued issuance and sale by the City of Philadelphia of Gas Works Revenue Notes of the City, prescribing the forms of notes and providing for their execution and payment, pledging certain revenues of the Gas Works as security, adopting a rate covenant and directing the imposition and collection of rates and charges sufficient to comply therewith, prescribing the conditions precedent to the issuance of specific series of notes, including a resolution passed by the Bond Committee providing for establishment of credit support for notes, providing for designation of a fiscal agent and sinking fund depositary, providing for establishment of a sinking fund and its management, providing remedies upon default, and providing for amendments and modifications. Bill No. 260113, an ordinance authorizing the execution, delivery and performance by the Philadelphia Facilities Management Corporation on behalf of the Philadelphia Gas Works of an amended Service Agreement with Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC for gas storage services under the Transco WSS Open Access Rate Schedule. Bill No. 251066, an ordinance authorizing the Commissioner of Records and the Procurement Commissioner, on behalf of the City, to execute a multi- year concession agreement with Ancestry.com in connection with the digitizing, indexing, and public access and search of City of Philadelphia Department of Records vital records, all under provisions set forth in the concession agreement substantially as set forth in Exhibit A to this ordinance. And Bill No. 260021, an ordinance amending Chapter 19-1700 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Finance, Taxes and Collections" to amend excluded transactions to the realty transfer tax, all under certain terms and conditions.
Thank you. Thank you very much. We will now proceed with the panel and witnesses on Bill No. 250769. Clerk, will you please call the first panel we have to testify on Bill No. 250769.
Ian Haggerty, Executive Director of Zoning Board of Adjustment. (Witness approached witness table.)
Good morning. Thank you so much for being here. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Good morning, Chairperson Gilmore Richardson. My name is Ian Haggerty and I am the Executive Director at the Zoning Board of Adjustment. Good morning, members of the Finance Committee. I'm here representing the Zoning Board of Adjustment from the Department of Planning and Development. Thank you so much for the opportunity to testify on this bill today. This is an important piece to the ZBA puzzle, so welcome any questions you have at the conclusion of my testimony. This was introduced by Councilmember Gauthier on September 18, 2025. Bill No. 250769 will raise the annual cap on the compensation of the members of the Zoning Board of Adjustment from $22,000 per year to $27,000 per year. Should note that while this bill changes the total maximum board compensation, it does not change the per-session compensation. Board members currently receive $100 per session, as they have since the last compensation ordinance was passed in 1988. This bill is one of many data-driven changes that the ZBA has promoted to streamline the process and reduce the amount of time that it takes to receive a board decision. We've reviewed and made significant changes to our internal processes for intake and post-hearing processing. We've also added some new supports for our first-time applicants and added additional Tuesday sessions to make the process more efficient. These efforts have drastically cut the wait time to get on the ZBA calendar by about 43 days for regular appeals and 48 for accelerated appeals, with the goal of continuing to build on these reforms and improvements. While most of our gains have been made through efficient clearing of cases, we're also interested in eliminating barriers to holding more hearings. One such barrier is the compensation of our board members. This bill allows us to create additional hearing capacity for major contested cases and other unexpected demands on the board's time. For example, last year the board held an ad hoc meeting for a set of appeals by the Philadelphia Housing Authority to allow that agency to meet a stringent funding deadline. Extra meetings like this allow the Board to absorb time- sensitive appeals without adding delays to the many cases that are waiting for their hearing date in our hearing queue. Proposed increase in annual compensation ensures the Board members will be paid for their time if such extra meetings need to be added. Regarding fiscal impact, the anticipated cost of the city is at most $35,000 per year, which is 5000 each ZBA seat. The maximum would only be reached if we were to hold hearings every Tuesday and Wednesday throughout the year, which is not anticipated. For context, we are limited by the availability of our room and the Board members' time, and we generally set our meeting dates in July for the following calendar year. We expect that the additional compensation costs will not exceed the current cap this fiscal year. And in coming years, we anticipate that additional costs will be covered with our department's Class 100 personnel underspend and will have minimal impact on the Department of Planning and Development's budget. Thank you so much for the opportunity to testify and welcome any questions.
Thank you. Thank you very much for your testimony, and thank you for detailing that this increase would be covered by underspend. I wanted to go back to the beginning of your testimony relative to not changing the per-session rate. So per session at $100 will remain the same, correct?
The increase is really to address, as an example, an ad hoc meeting that needs to occur or to help with ensuring that we're able to hear more cases?
Correct. If I have to ask my Board members to come in for an extra day of hearings, I want to make sure that they'll get their paycheck.
Received. Okay. Are there any additional questions for this witness? (No response.)
Seeing none, we thank you very much for being here today and we thank you for providing your testimony. Is there anyone else here to testify on Bill No. 250769? (No response.)
Okay. And there being no further panels on Bill No. 12 250769, we will now proceed with Bill No. 260112. Clerk, will you please call the roll of the first witness or first panel we have.
Jacqueline Dunn, City Treasurer; Gemela McClendon, Executive Director Philadelphia Gas Commission. Also available for questions are representatives for PGW. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Excellent. Okay. You can proceed. You can come to the witness table. Thank you. We have you on our first panel, so you can state your names for the record and you can proceed with your testimony. MS. McCLENDON: I'm sorry. Just to clarify, I'm here to testify on 260113.
Okay. So just state your name for the record really quickly so we can have that for the stenographer. MS. McCLENDON: Gemela McClendon, Executive Director of the Philadelphia Gas Commission.
Excellent. We will call you back up for 260113 along with the panel for 113. Okay. Thank you very much. All right. So for Bill 5 No. 260112, we have our City Treasurer. You can state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony. CITY TREASURER DUNN: Good morning, Chair Gilmore Richardson and members of the Finance Committee. My name is Jackie Dunn, City Treasurer. And with me this morning are Matt Bowman, Deputy Treasurer; and Joseph Golden, Executive Vice- President and Acting CFO of the Philadelphia Gas Works at PGW. I'm here to testify today in favor of Bill 260112. This bill would provide authorization to issue gas works revenue notes in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $150 million outstanding at any one time. PGW has had a commercial paper notes program in place since at least 1998 and the existing authorization for the working capital portion is due to expire later this year. This ordinance extends the program authorization for an additional five-year period. Proceeds from the sale of the notes shall be used to finance working capital demands of PGW as well as to pay cost of issuance or capitalized interest on the notes. The authorization provides PGW with financial flexibility should the need arise. Though PGW has not drawn on this element of the program since 2009, the program would preserve access to short-term financing at competitive interest rates in the event of an unforeseen financial or liquidity need. Commercial paper has maturities of up to 270 days and is backed by a letter of credit or a revolving line of credit. The Administration recommends adoption of this ordinance and respectfully requests that the Committee give this bill its favorable recommendation and further that the Committee recommends that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading of the bill at the next session of Council. Thank you for your consideration and we're happy to answer any questions that you may have.
Thank you. Thank you all very much for being here today and for meeting with my office in advance, as we always do, to address any questions that we have. For the record, for this hearing I wanted to review the credit rating of PGW, you know, the City and PGW. We have continuously worked to improve our credit rating over the years. And so, for the record can you highlight what the current credit rating is for PGW? CITY TREASURER DUNN: Sure. The Philadelphia Gas Works is currently single 'A' rated by the agencies.
Excellent. And can you talk about some of the projected interest rates for some of the projects that you're sort of referring to potentially? CITY TREASURER DUNN: Sure. So the commercial paper program is a tool, in this element the working capital portion. Fortunately, PGW has not needed to draw on the program in quite some time. It's there for emergencies. The current program that we have in place, the annual fee is basis points. And that was from 2021 when rates were quite low. Fortunately, rates, while a lot has happened over five years, we're in an open RFP period and we've still gotten competitive bids from potential respondents. So we expect to stay relatively in line with that schedule.
Okay. And so, you say you're in the open period now. Have you begun to receive responses? CITY TREASURER DUNN: We have, yes.
Okay. And how many? I know you can't get into detail. But just how many? CITY TREASURER DUNN: For this program, we received five responses.
Okay. And is there any impact relative to commercial paper on the City's debt service? CITY TREASURER DUNN: Yeah. Not related to the overall City's credit. This would be specific to the Philadelphia Gas Works, so the authorization counts towards their debt limits. And if they end up issuing the working capital or the commercial paper portion, that's tracked and reported in their financial reporting.
Okay. Excellent. And then I know you don't know and can't predict the future, but are there any specific projects that you have in mind that you may need to utilize this for?
Okay. And then I noted in your testimony that you haven't needed to draw down on this in quite some time, which is appreciated. But can you give us some examples of past projects?
Yes. This commercial paper program is all utilized to finance inventory and receivables. So as we come into a cold winter like this winter, luckily we had enough cash on hand to support the inventory and the growth in the accounts receivable. Otherwise, that's what it would be utilized for.
Okay. Excellent. And I will save the last question for the end of the RFP process. But I'm just going to put on the record that we want to ensure that we are working with companies and organizations that look like Philadelphia. All right. I wanted to also recognize Councilman Driscoll, who's here. I know you serve on the Gas Commission and we thank you very much for your work and your service and dedication to our city. Councilman Jones was here as well and will be back after another meeting. Are there any questions for this panel? Any additional questions? (No response.)
Okay. Seeing none, we thank you. Thank you very much for your work and for always working with us in advance. Have a wonderful day. Is there anyone else here to testify on Bill No. 260112? (No response.)
All right. Seeing none, we thank you all so much for being here for 260112. We'll now proceed with Bill No. 260113. Will the Clerk please call the panel and the three witnesses that we have for Bill No. 10 260113.
Daniel Cassidy, Vice-President of Technical Operations PGW; Gemela McClendon, Executive Director of PGW, Philadelphia Gas Commission. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
My name is Dan Cassidy, Vice-President of Technical Operations for the Philadelphia Gas Works. Good morning, Chairwoman Gilmore Richardson and members of City Council's Committee on Finance. I'm appearing today on behalf of PGW in support of Bill No. 260113, which approves an amendment to a service agreement under rate schedule Washington Storage Service or WSS with Transcontinental Pipe Gas Pipeline Company LLC, also known as Transco. In 2001, PGW first entered into a natural gas storage agreement with Transco, which has continued since on a year-to-year basis with amendments in 2011. In 2024, Transco sought approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or FERC to adjust its service terms, resulting in a settlement with PGW. Under the new settlement, PGW has the right to elect a rate and term option that began in 2025. The current service agreement with Transco is set to expire on April 1, 2026 to continue benefiting from the chosen rates. Transco has offered PGW an extension of the agreement through April 1, 2035, which would lock in rates that protect PGW and its ratepayers from marketplace price fluctuations. PGW must seek final approval to enter into this agreement no later than March 31, 2025. This service agreement extension insulates PGW from market price fluctuations and penalties and better ensures reliability for our ratepayers for the next decade. I have submitted written testimony with further details about the service agreement extension, and I am happy to answer any questions you may have. Also, PGW respectfully requests that the committee give this bill a favorable recommendation and further that the committee recommends that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit the first reading of these bills at the next Council session. On behalf of PGW, I would like to thank the Gas Commission and staff for their work and timely consideration of this matter. I, too, am grateful to City Council for its past support of our efforts to serve the ratepayers of Philadelphia.
Thank you. Thank you very much. You can state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony. MS. McCLENDON: My name Gemela McClendon. I'm the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Gas Commission. Good morning, Chairwoman Gilmore Richardson and members of the committee. We appreciate this opportunity to testify in support of Bill No. 260113, which embodies the recommendations unanimously adopted at the Gas Commission's public meeting held on January 13, 2026. This testimony supplements the Philadelphia Gas Works' testimony in support of this bill. We respectfully request that this bill be reported out of committee with a favorable recommendation together with the suspension of the rules so it may have its first reading of the next City Council session. The Gas Commission recommends that City Council of Philadelphia approves the agreement on behalf of the Philadelphia Gas Works to enter into an amendment to the service agreement with Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Corporation for firm transportation service under rate schedule WSS and the revised form that is set forth as Exhibit A to Bill No. 260113. The Commission's recommendations to Council are detailed in its resolution in order dated February 4, 2026, which is attached to my written testimony as Appendix 1, incorporating the recommended form of ordinance, which is the same as the bill 18 before City Council. After its standard review and due diligence, the Gas Commission found that a favorable recommendation to Council in this matter was appropriate for the following reasons: This service agreement provides natural gas storage services, accounting for approximately 20% of PGW's total storage capacity. And as PGW's only opens access storage contract, it represents one of PGW's most important market area storage services. According to PGW's testimony before the Commission, if PGW is not permitted to execute this amendment to the service agreement, it will have to attempt to replace this service through firm storage agreements and/or paying market-based rates at time of need. None of these replacement options would be guaranteed. And even if replication of this storage could be accomplished, the estimated cost would be much higher than the rates proposed in this amendment and would result in increased costs to PGW's ratepayers. Further, PGW's testimony before the Commission stated that the amendment would protect PGW and provide it with stability in a fluctuating natural gas market. This stability will ensure that PGW can reliably provide natural gas to its customers, while saving ratepayers money. PGW has estimated that the proposed amendment will cost PGW approximately $1.8 million per year, whereas without the amendment PGW would have to pay, in the worst-case scenario, an estimated $5.3 million per day to obtain spot gas on certain days without this storage contract. And finally, this proposed third amendment will aid PGW in complying with the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission lease cost fuel procurement policy requirement, as required by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. In conclusion and as detailed in my written testimony, the Commission respectfully recommends that Council approve Bill No. 260113. And on behalf of the Philadelphia Gas Commissioners, I thank you for this opportunity to provide this testimony and would be happy to answer any questions that you may have.
Thank you. Thank you both so much for your testimony. Thank you very much for being here this morning. I wanted to ask a question regarding the current options relative to the rate lock in the third amendment when I read through the testimony, relative to this being the third amendment to the service agreement that would extend the terms for an additional years. What are our total current options? Is it just the 10 years?
So we were 7 given options for years, years, years, but the 10 years was the 9 most economically advantageous. 10
And that would be an advantage for our consumers as well?
Okay. I just wanted to get that on the record. And then I believe you all sort of factored this in during the last adjustment that was made back in December, correct, because it's already factored in, no? MS. McCLENDON: The last adjustment I'm --
So this would not have been factored in at that time because it's not in place yet.
Right. But just for forecasting from a budgeting perspective?
Okay. And so, will we still have the ability to offload gas moving forward under this agreement? Meaning, I know this is a storage agreement. I understand that. But what would be our additional ability outside of this agreement moving forward?
Meaning, if the market shifts. If something happens in the market, what will we be able to do moving forward?
So this gives us flexibility. So as a storage contract, this gives us flexibility mainly to buy gas during warmer periods and inject it at lower cost and then take it out during colder periods when it makes more financial sense. So from that perspective, this doesn't change our overall -- are you asking if our send-out is reduced, will this --
So with the amount of send-out that we have and with the amount of storage that we have, it doesn't have an impact in that perspective.
Okay. And also, I heard what you said about the 5.3 million. So of course, that makes economic sense. Are there any additional questions for these witnesses? (No response.)
Okay. Seeing none, thank you. Thank you very much for your testimony and thank you so much for being here. Is there anyone else here to testify on Bill No. 260113? (No response.)
Okay. Seeing none, we thank you all so much for being here. We will now proceed with Bill No. 251066.
James Leonard, Department of Records. (Witness approached witness table.)
Excellent. Will you please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony. COMMISSIONER LEONARD: James Leonard Department of Records. Good morning, Majority Leader Chairperson Gilmore Richardson and members of the Committee on Finance. I am James Leonard, Commissioner of the Department of Records. I am here today to testify in support of Bill 18 No. 251066 on behalf of Mayor Parker's Administration. com to digitize what is known as the City's archives, genealogical record collection. com was selected through a rigorous competitive request for proposals process conducted in collaboration with the Procurement Department and the Office of Information Technology, which provided technical expertise on digitization matters. And with the highly skilled and dedicated support of the Law Department, the City's archives maintains approximately 13 million historical genealogical 14 records that have long been 15 available to the public for 16 research. 17 These records document 18 the rich family history and lineage 19 of Philadelphia residents. They 20 include birth records, death records and marriage records, collectively known as vital records as well as naturalization documents and property records. These are among our most frequently accessed materials. The vital records are from 1915 and earlier, over 110 years ago and older. The naturalization records documents are historical court records from the early 20th century and older. The property records are from the mid-1950s and older. Some of these records are from the 1800s and even the 1700s. All of them have long been public under Pennsylvania law, and they do not contain living people's private information. And if I could draw your attention to -- I brought some posters, a few examples of our more famous historical records. And we, with John Fenton's help, printed some copies out for you. The first is the death record of Octavius Catto from 1871. This is on your far or my far left. And you can see that his cause of death was violence from gunshot wounds. Next, we have a property record from William Steele, the prominent Philadelphia abolitionist conductor on the Underground Railroad and one of the leaders of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society. And this was for his property at 12th and Washington Avenue. And next to my right, we have the birth record of Raymond Pace Alexander, who was the first Black Councilmember of the 5th Council District. And that record is from 1897. And then finally, the first page of the deed of Raymond Pace Alexander and his very famous spouse, Sadie T. Mossell Alexander from their property at 17th and Jefferson, which they sold in this deed before they moved to Mount Airy. Today these records are primarily available to the public only in person at the Archives Building at Spring Garden Street. Our digital access is very limited, and this partnership will change that. The partnership will cost taxpayers nothing. com will bear all costs and expenses. This includes scanning records in the digital format, indexing all the records and information in them and hosting all million records 14 on its website. 15 The digitization will 16 take approximately two years. The 17 City will receive some concession 18 and revenue from this agreement, 19 but that is not the primary 20 purpose. The real financial benefit is that this project would be cost-prohibitive for the City to undertake on its own. Perhaps most important is the unprecedented public good we will achieve in making our great city's history available online. We knew from the outset that to make this project truly meaningful, we had to ensure broad public access. This partnership delivers on that commitment. Every Philadelphia resident will have free access to these records through multiple channels in every Council District. First, patrons will be able to access Philadelphia's full digital collection on Ancestry for free at the city archives and at our City Hall offices.
Second, over 50 library branches across all 10 Council Districts already provide free Ancestry access to patrons. Through this partnership, Philadelphia's digital collection will be available at no cost at those branches. Third, every public middle and high school in the school district will have free access to Ancestry Classroom, an educational product. This offers classroom resources, professional learning tools and access to Ancestry's historical record collections to help students learn about their personal place in history. Philadelphia's collection will be included in Ancestry Classroom. This means that residents and students in every Council District will have multiple free and convenient community access points. For those who wish to access Ancestry from personal computers, mobile devices or tablets, paid Subscriptions will be available. Both the District and Free Library are supportive of this partnership. The proposed concession will provide Ancestry an initial period of up to two years to complete all digitization and indexing work. After that period, the agreement will have a 10-year base term with city options for 2 five-year renewals, then subsequent two-year renewals. I wanted to explain why this extended term is necessary for sound economic reasons. Ancestry is investing substantial resources to digitize the million records 15 at no cost to the city. The 16 initial term of 10 years provides a 17 reasonable period for them to 18 recoup that investment. This is 19 standard practice in these 20 partnerships nationwide. The renewal options provide the City a mechanism in its discretion to continue our collection being available online. Importantly, the City retains full control over whether to renew. I also would like to address the security of our irreplaceable documents. The records will travel to Ancestry's Utah facilities for scanning and indexing. Ancestry has a proven track record of safe handling of historical records. Contractual protections are built into the proposed concession. The Department of Records has thoroughly vetted those procedures. We are also very familiar with such transport processes from when we relocated the archives in 2018. I also want to assure you that this is not an experimental approach. , Boston, Atlanta, Phoenix and Seattle. Philadelphia has one of the oldest and largest municipal archives in the country. Our joining this established network is a significant milestone. The partnership will preserve Philadelphia's historical legacy for future generations and will transform access from local and limited to global and easily accessible. Our genealogical collection is one of the larger municipal collections in the nation. This partnership will position Philadelphia as a leader in public-private cooperation for digital preservation. In conclusion, this bill 21 authorizes partnership that delivers maximum public benefit at zero taxpayer costs. It follows a proven national model. It expands access to all Council Districts through libraries and schools, and it preserves Philadelphia's history for generations to come. I respectfully request the committee to approve Bill No. 251066 and send it to the full Council with a positive recommendation and to suspend the rules of Council. I am happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Thank you. Thank you so much, Commissioner Leonard. Thank you to you and to your entire team on this work. We appreciate all that you've done to ensure that we have information relative to how this partnership could work. I am very excited about this. As someone who was adopted from birth and have used Ancestry through the years, I'm very excited. I just have a few questions regarding the partnership. One, I noted that you stated in your testimony that it would take two years to complete the entire project. And you know this year is a really big year for Philly. And so, I wanted to know if there were any documents that we could prioritize that would be available around the time of the Semiquincentennial for review? COMMISSIONER LEONARD: We can certainly look at that.
Okay. I think that would be great. Maybe just a few documents of historical context for Philadelphia that visitors and residents alike would love to see in time for July 4th. I think that would be awesome. Also, I wanted to ask a couple questions relative to you talked about Ancestry sort of taking on the initial cost for this project and that it would cost taxpayers nothing, which we love to hear. However, I'm missing how our residents will be able to, outside of the Free Library, access these materials. So would there be an opportunity for them, as an example, to come to City Hall to review the digitized records? Is there a way for the City of Philadelphia residents to have access to the city-only records via their own Ancestry account? Because I have ancestry. Like I said, I was adopted from birth. I used Ancestry to help me with the search. You have to have a paid account to see certain materials. Is there a way to ensure that our residents that live in this city, who may not have a paid account, but may have an account or can create an account can see the city- only records? Is there a way to do that? COMMISSIONER LEONARD: Yes. So anybody -- of course, if you have a paid Ancestry account, you'll be able to access them as long as you have the tier of access that permits that. But anybody without a paid account, so at no 14 cost, will be able to go to the Free Library. There's 50 branches that I have a list of all of them that already have Ancestry free access at them. And once our collection is added to Ancestry, anybody who goes to one of those branches will be able to access all of our records for no cost as well as the same goes for if they come to the City Archives at Spring Garden Street or to our offices in City Hall.
Okay. And so, they would have to do that through the library or here in City Hall, right? COMMISSIONER LEONARD: Yes. And students of course would have access to it at school.
Okay. Through Ancestry Classroom. I'm not familiar with Ancestry Classroom. What type of access would you have utilizing the Ancestry Classroom versus the regular Ancestry? COMMISSIONER LEONARD: So Ancestry Classroom, my understanding is Ancestry Classroom has the entire Ancestry collection. It's not going to just be our records, the city's records. It's much broader. And we have communicated with the school district, with Dr. Jermaine Dawson, Deputy Superintendent of Academic Services about it. And we'll at some point do a demo for them of Ancestry Classroom.
Okay. That'll be great. And then my last question is relative to the renewal options for the city. And I noted in your testimony that you stated that the city retains full control over whether to renew the partnership. But if we didn't renew maybe after 10 years or 10 years plus the 2 years, then what happens to all the digitized records? Do we still own them? COMMISSIONER LEONARD: Yeah. Well, two things. That's a great question. We retain throughout ownership of the images. In the event that the City opts not to renew at any point, all of those digitized images come back to the City.
Okay. All right. Are there any additional questions for this witness? (No response.)
Thank you. Well, thank you so much, Commissioner Leonard. And listen, I want to thank you for these historical documents that you shared with us at the hearing today. I was especially excited to review the deed for Raymond Pace Alexander and Sadie T. Mossell Alexander and Theresa Moore, the wife of Cecil B. Moore, right. I guess they were doing the deal together and purchasing their home at 1708 West Jefferson Street in North Philadelphia. And I was excited to see this because I saw the date of August 24, 1951. And that was the same year and around the same time that my grandparents purchased their first home after coming to Philadelphia from Tarboro County, South Carolina, and they purchased a home just a few blocks from the Alexander family, so this was really exciting to see. We know that this project will enable us to see many more records like this and be able to have the search feature and not have to go downstairs and go through all the books. And that was the process that I undertook actually to locate my biological family. I checked the marriage records here in City Hall in those big old books, and now we would enable Philadelphians and others to search this information digitally. So we thank you very much for all of your work on this, you and your team. I know Tracy is here. We appreciate you so much and the work that you're doing. So thank you, Commissioner Leonard. COMMISSIONER LEONARD: Thank you.
Yes. Thank you so much. This is awesome. All right. Is there anyone else here to testify on Bill 16 No. 251066? (No response.)
Okay. Seeing none, we will now proceed with Bill No. 21 260021. Clerk, will you please call the first panel to testify for Bill No. 260021.
James Leonard, Commissioner of Department of Records. Also available for questions is the Department of Revenue.
Excellent. I see our Revenue Commissioner here and also Fran Beckley from the Law Department. We appreciate you all for being here. I just quickly wanted to say thank you so much for your work on this legislation. For me, this is about generational wealth, but it's also very personal to me. It's something that my family and I went through. We paid thousands and thousands of dollars just to maintain our family homes and keep them in our families. And we know that many families in Philadelphia who are struggling with tangled titles or deeds are, too, trying to figure out ways to preserve their generational wealth and keep these properties in the family. And this commonsense amendment and commonsense bill will help us do just that and will save families thousands and thousands of dollars in fees relative to our realty transfer tax. And so, I wanted to thank you all for your work on this legislation in the background. I know we also worked on some changes to the LOOP program for families that are suffering with tangled titles or deeds. And so, we just wanted to uplift and appreciate that work, and thank you for helping us to get to this point. Community Legal Services and all our legal service organizations, thank you for bringing this commonsense legislation to us and helping us to help families eliminate a significant financial barrier that can really prevent families from passing a home from one generation to the next. And we are going to clarify in this legislation, hopefully with the support of my colleagues, that heirs are not required to pay the city's realty transfer tax when inheriting a family home with an outstanding mortgage that cannot be paid off by the estate. Currently as it stands, only property transfers for no or nominal actual consideration or homes that are paid off are exempt from the realty transfer tax. And for homes with an outstanding mortgage, the property does not qualify as being for no or nominal actual consideration. And so, as it stands currently heirs are required to pay that realty transfer tax on any of the remaining debt they assume from the estate before a new deed can even be recorded, again which we know costs thousands and thousands of dollars. And I know that from personal experience. And so, treating the inheritance of a family home as a taxable transaction is inequitable, and it places an undue burden on families with very few resources and continues to create unnecessary barriers to maintaining homeownership. And so, this legislation removes that obstacle. And we will help more families keep their homes in their family and continue to build in their generational wealth. So thank you all again so much. And now, we'll hear from our Commissioner Jim Leonard from the Department of Records. And I know Revenue is here and available for additional questions. COMMISSIONER LEONARD: Good morning, Majority Leader and Chairperson Gilmore Richardson and members of the Committee on Finance. I'm James Leonard, Commissioner of Records for the City of Philadelphia, and I'm here today to testify in support of Bill 13 No. 260021, on behalf of Mayor Parker's Administration. I want to begin by thanking Majority Leader Gilmore Richardson for her leadership on tangled titles and for introducing this legislation. The Majority Leader has been a consistent champion for Philadelphia homeowners, and this bill reflects that commitment. I would also thank Community Legal Services of Philadelphia for shining a light on this issue and for advocating on behalf of the legislation. Their work with Philadelphia homeowners gives them a front-row view of the real-world consequences of unclear property ownership and their advocacy has made a difference. Bill No. 260021 codifies a longstanding practice in how the city calculates realty transfer tax for inherited properties.
Under the bill when a primary residence passes from a decedent to an heir, any outstanding mortgage or lien on the property existing before the transfer will not be treated as actual consideration for purposes of calculating the city's realty transfer tax. In plain terms, the bill 22 ensures that the presence of an existing mortgage does not artificially inflate the transfer tax owed when a family home is passed down to heirs. This is the right outcome. It reflects how these transactions actually work and it protects families at a moment when they are already navigating the loss of a loved one. Why does this matter for tangled titles? The Department of Records sits at the center of Philadelphia's tangled title crisis. When a homeowner dies without a will or an estate plan, their property can become a tangled title, a property where ownership is unclear because the deed was never properly transferred. 1 billion in value. These properties are concentrated in communities that are 87% Black. Untangling a title is already a difficult and costly process. Families must navigate legal proceedings to establish clear ownership. They should not face an inflated tax bill on top of those burdens. This bill helps keep the cost of untangling titles down. That is good for families and it is good for Philadelphia. E. Initiative. Bill No. 260021 directly supports that mission. By reducing the financial barriers families face when a home is transferred after a death, this bill helps keep family homes in the family and helps build generational wealth. I urge the Committee on Finance to support Bill No. 260021. It is a straightforward fix that will have a meaningful impact on Philadelphia families working to preserve their most important asset, their home. Thank you for your time and I'm happy to answer any questions.
Thank you. Thank you very much, Commissioner Leonard. And again, thank you for your partnership and for all of your work in helping us to get to this point. I actually had a question of Revenue to put on the record relative to the other program that we worked on for families that are suffering with a tangled title or deed regarding how many families have actually taken advantage of the LOOP program now that we added the language regarding families that have a tangled title or a deed. COMMISSIONER McCOLGAN: Good morning. I'm Kathleen McColgan, Revenue Commissioner. I don't have that specific stat with me, but I can tell you that we have approximately 3000 equitable owners enrolled in water assistance programs as well as 2000 enrolled in tax programs. So I'll just have to get you the number on LOOP specifically.
Okay. That'll be great. But you said 3000 equitable owners enrolled? COMMISSIONER McCOLGAN: In water assistance programs.
You said water assistance? COMMISSIONER McCOLGAN: Water assistance.
Okay. And then you said 2000? COMMISSIONER McCOLGAN: Oh, I'm sorry. I actually do have the number of equitable owners that are enrolled in LOOP. That is 54 that have been enrolled.
Okay. Great. So 54 since you worked on that. That's awesome. That is awesome, okay, with LOOP. Okay. Excellent. Thank you so much for that, Commissioner. And thank you again for the work of your department for helping us with that. Are there any additional questions for Panel 1? (No response.)
Okay. Seeing none, we thank you very much for being here. Will the Clerk please call Panel 2 for Bill No. 260021.
Rachel Gallegos, Community Legal Services; Michelle Waller, Community Representative; Kevin Boswell, Housing Justice Senior Law Center; and Garrett O'Dwyer, Philadelphia, Association of Community Development Corporations. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Okay. We thank you all so much for being here. Again, I want to thank Community Legal Services, the Senior Law Center, Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations, who we know as PACDC, and most especially to our community representative who joined us here today and who's been with us from the beginning of this hearing. So state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Good morning. My name is Rachel Gallegos. I'm a Divisional Supervising Attorney with Community Legal Services, and I appreciate the opportunity to be here. Good morning, members of the committee. My name is Rachel Gallegos. I'm a DSA in the Homeownership and Consumer Rights Unit at CLS where I lead our tangled title work. I'm pleased to testify today in support of Bill No. 11 260021, which will exempt intergenerational family homes from the realty transfer tax. As Council knows, Community Legal Services was established by the Philadelphia Bar Association in 1966 to provide civil legal representation to low-income Philadelphians as the city's largest provider of free legal services. CLS assists approximately 12,000 of Philadelphia's poorest residents with their legal problems each year, starting in 2021 with the city's historic investment to help homeowners with tangled titles as part of the Neighborhood Preservation Initiative. CLS has been able to focus more resources on helping clients preserve their intergenerational family homes. Today CLS has a dedicated team of nine advocates, a combination of attorneys and paralegals focused exclusively on representing clients with tangled titles. In 2025, we worked with 673 clients with tangled titles. We successfully cleared 118 titles. We did wills for 274 homeowners and we participated in 90 wills, clinics and community outreach events. The work on tangled title remains robust and ongoing, requiring continued collaboration with our legal partners, city agencies and elected officials. The next evolution of our work remains focused on direct client services, but includes needed policy reform. Today we are here in support of Bill No. 260021, Councilmember Gilmore Richardson's bill, to exempt family homes that have outstanding mortgages from the realty transfer tax when they pass after the owner's death. Committee members may have thought that when a home passes after someone's death, that the home is already exempt from the transfer tax. And to be honest, so did many housing and homeownership advocates for many years. But in the last several years, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and now the City of Philadelphia has begun enforcing a longstanding law to assess realty transfer tax on the value of the outstanding mortgage balance on family homes passed through testate or intestate succession. Their position is that the heir is assuming the mortgage debt from the estate and that this is therefore no longer a transfer for no or nominal actual consideration and exempt from the tax. Currently, homes that pass by intestate or testate succession are exempt from the realty transfer tax if they are for no or nominal value. But when a home passes to heirs and the home is encumbered with a mortgage or other liens and the heirs assume the mortgage, the state and city require that transfer tax be paid on the value of the outstanding mortgage. This means that as we work to keep family homes in the family, the heirs get hit with a big transfer tax bill that needs to be paid before the deed is recorded. This at best delays a client in obtaining record ownership, and at worst, outright prevents it, as the cost is too high and burdensome for our clients. When an heir inherits a home that is subject to the realty transfer tax, some may qualify for assistance from the Tangled Title Fund administered by our sister legal aid organization Philadelphia VIP. This grant provides for costs associated with probating an estate, including probate fees, inheritance taxes and transfer taxes. The Tangled Title Fund is critical to doing this work, as our clients cannot afford these fees out of pocket. However, Philadelphia VIP reports that in 2025 the Tangled Title Fund spent $165,000 in transfer taxes based on mortgages and/or other consideration. These are dollars that could otherwise assist more clients to resolving tangled titles. You're going to hear in a moment from our client Ms.
Waller seated next to me, who's graciously agreed to be here to tell her story. And when she inherited her mom's house and took over her mom's mortgage, this requirement was not being enforced at that time. If it had been, Ms. Waller would have been required to pay over $3,000 in transfer tax to the City of Philadelphia. On her limited income, this would have been unaffordable. We would not have been able to put the house in her name, and the foreclosure would have resulted in the loss of a home. In cases with mortgage delinquency such as Ms. Waller, this is particularly devastating, as a mortgage foreclosure cannot be resolved without having clear title. Without a deed in her name, Ms. Waller would be unable to assume the mortgage and obtain a loan modification and ultimately, the house would be lost. The proposed bill would have immediate impact for Philadelphia homeowners. The city has put tremendous resources and energy around combating tangled titles and creating homeownership opportunities for its residents. It has supported the effort to build and preserve intergenerational wealth, and this amendment is just another step in this larger effort. CLS strongly supports amending The Philadelphia Code to exempt the value of a mortgage or other liens from the definition of consideration as used in the context of property that passes by testate or intestate succession. Thank you to Councilwoman Gilmore Richardson for always leading the charge on tangled titles and the City of Philadelphia with the support of other Councilmembers. Your voice means so much to our clients and to our organizations. And a special shout-out to Eliza sitting here today. Eliza has been wonderful and a wonderful liaison with us as we work to get these things done, so we appreciate her time as well. So thank you to Council for hearing us out today and for the opportunity to speak.
Thank you and thank you so much for your continued work with our office and all the work that you all do to help us bring forth commonsense legislation to help Philadelphians preserve their family homes and their generational wealth, particularly now when housing prices and values are rising each year. So thank you so much. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Hold the microphone up if you can, ma'am.
Thank you so much. That's good. We have to make sure the stenographer can hear you. Thank you so much. So you stated your name for the record. Please proceed with your testimony.
Thank you so much. Good morning. My name is Michelle Waller. I'm a resident of the city of Philadelphia and have lived here my entire life. My home, belonging to my mother, Wallette Waller, she had lived in the home alone for a few years before becoming ill. When she became ill, she was diagnosed with cancer. She started chemo and was no longer able to do things for herself. At that time, I moved in to take care of my mother. I was helping my mother manage day-to- day, cooking, cleaning and caring for herself. Things took a turn and she was then hospitalized for a year. I was trying to maintain both her home and my own home at that time. My daughter stayed at my home to maintain things and help out while I stayed at my mother's home and took care of things while she was hospitalized. My mom got better for a little while, but then eventually she got worse. She was unable to walk and she needed dialysis, and it was a lot. I was also working at the time. And so, I was managing her health care for her and while also trying to pay my own bills as well. She was very sick for many years and ultimately passed away in 2016. My mom would always pay her bills and usually would pay them well in advance. She did this with her mortgage and she was always ahead of the mortgage payments. After she passed, I called the mortgage company to -- excuse me. I called the mortgage company. They assured me everything was okay and that I could maintain residency. I remained in my mother's home after she passed away. This home holds, and it still does, sentinel value and it's very important to me. A couple of years after her death the mortgage company told me I had to assume the mortgage and they eventually informed me the payments were passed due. Unfortunately, throughout this time assuming the mortgage and working with the mortgage company has become very difficult. Despite my mother's paying well in advance, the mortgage company did not communicate with me until the payments were well past due. I am currently working with CLS to resolve mortgage issues and I hope that it comes to an end soon. During this time, I also had to probate my mother's estate. My brother and I were her only heirs, and we were in agreement about how to handle her affairs. He agreed to transfer the property to my name. Community Legal Services helped me to probate the estate and then record a new deed with my name on it. It was really important for me to keep my mother's home. We went through a lot -- yeah, we went through a lot at the house and it meant more to me to maintain the other home I had lived in. It's also more convenient for me to live there. I am not as mobile as I used to be due to some physical and health problems. My mom's house is convenient to things I need for my own living in the home and makes it easier for me to get around and live comfortably. I am also grateful to be living in my mother's home and now our family home. Community Legal Services helped me to draft an estate plan after the house was in my name and I will leave this home to my daughter. I want this home to be the place for the next generation of my family. I want my grandkids to benefit from this legacy as well. I have family to take care of, and this house will help me to do that. I want to say thank you to City Council for inviting me to testify today and I'm glad to have been able to share my story.
Thank you. Thank you so much, Ms. Waller. Thank you so much for sharing your story. And I'm so sorry for your loss of your mom in 2016. And 10 years later, you can now tell the story that you were able to preserve her home as your family home. And so, I thank you for sharing your story, and feel what you went through. I lost my mom also in 2016 and went through the same process that you went through. And that's the reason why we wanted to do this legislation, so more families like me and like you can preserve our generational wealth and keep our moms' homes and our family and pass them down to our daughters.
Exactly. Exactly. My mom worked hard and the struggle is real.
Received. Received. I thank you for being here today. Really appreciate you so much. Please state your names for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Good morning. My name is Kevin Boswell. I'm a supervising attorney with the Housing Justice Project at Senior Law Center. Thank you, Chair Gilmore Richardson and other members of the Committee on Finance, for inviting Senior Law Center to come here and testify today. Thank you to our partners for their words in support of this bill. I am here to offer my enthusiastic support for the proposed amendments to The Philadelphia Code on the realty transfer tax exemptions. Currently, the law unfairly penalizes heirs who inherit a mortgaged family home by stripping them of their estate tax exemption. This tax penalty constitutes a legacy of redlining, actively undermine Council's commitments to fight the tangled title epidemic and build generational wealth, and hurt Senior Law Center clients. Senior Law Center is the only nonprofit organization in Pennsylvania whose mission is dedicated solely to seeking justice for older adults, and one of the very few in the nation. Since the allocation of city funding, Senior Law Center has advised or represented over 1000 clients struggling with tangled titles. Almost three-quarters of these cases come from the hardest-hit districts of West and North Philadelphia. Pew Research confirms that the weight of our tangled title crisis falls heaviest on Philadelphia's Black neighborhoods. The arbitrary exclusion from the estate exemption functions as a poverty tax that reflects the legacy of redlining. While the wealthy heir inherits a property free and clear without paying a cent in transfer tax, a low-income heir is penalized for inheriting a mortgage, forcing those with the fewest resources to pay more because they inherited a debt is an absurd and surely unintended result. This tax penalty actively undermines Council's long- term commitment to building wealth by blocking many families from their inheritance before they even receive the keys to their house. More fortunate clients are able to rely on the Tangled Title Fund to cover these costs. Since May of 2025, 58 applicants excluded from the estate exemption have requested $165,000 from the Tangled Title Fund to pay taxes that they should already be exempt from. This is money that should be helping your constituents resolve their tangled titles, not paying unnecessary taxes. This exclusion impacts many older homeowners represented by Senior Law Center. I will highlight one, but please see our written testimony for several others. Our client John inherited property from his father, a 30-year school district veteran who worked his entire life to achieve the dream of homeownership. His father wanted his hard work to transcend his death by passing that wealth to John and to his grandchildren. But because his father died with a mortgage balance of over $100,000, John was disqualified from the estate exemption. After scraping together $3,500 for inheritance tax and probate fees, he was hit with another $4,500 in transfer taxes. Now, mind you, John qualified for the estate exemption in every way except that he inherited a mortgage. The absurdity is this: John was being taxed on a debt that he couldn't even afford. While he struggled to probate the estate, the mortgage company sued to foreclose. Senior Law Center defended him in the foreclosure action where loan modifications saved the home, but the current law nearly cost him the legacy his father spent 30 years building. Not everyone is so lucky. The proposed bill 26002100 ensures everyday heirs aren't penalized just because their parents had a mortgage. It is a narrowly- tailored fix, covering primary residences that levels the playing field. It gives working families the same footing as the city's wealthiest. It's a simple fix with a massive impact that would allow Philadelphians to age in place with dignity and secure a vital path to generational wealth. Older homeowners, often affected by fixed incomes eroded by inflation, face mounting physical and financial hurdles to staying in their homes.
By helping older homeowners gain title to their homes, we stabilize their neighborhoods and secure Philadelphia's most vital form of affordable housing so homes of residents already live in. We urge you to pass this commonsense legislation to ensure our past progress continues into tomorrow. Thank you very much.
Thank you so much and thank you for the stories that you shared within your testimony as well. I don't know if you added this because I was rereading this, the DHS claims as well. So I'd love to as a next step talk about that as a next step and the next bill that we need to offer, because that relates to our city code. Okay. So I think that's a follow- up bill that we must undertake. Okay. Thank you so much for your testimony. Please proceed with your testimony.
Good morning, Chair Gilmore Richardson and members of the City Council Committee on Finance. My name is Garrett O'Dwyer and I'm the Policy Director at the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations or PACDC. Thank you for the opportunity to offer testimony in support of Bill 4 No. 260021, which will exempt properties that contain a lien, mortgage or other encumbrance from exposure to transfer taxes when conveyed at nominal or no 9 consideration. We'd also like to thank you, Councilmember Gilmore Richardson, for your leadership in introducing not just this bill, but for continually working with advocates to address the challenges that tangled titles pose to Philadelphians. PACDC is the leading voice of nonprofit community development corporations and other community development organizations in Philadelphia. Many of our 60 CDC members provide referrals for housing counseling needs or provide these services directly and see firsthand what tangled titles mean for individuals and families. Estimates are that Philadelphia has over 10,000 tangled titles, representing well over $1 billion. This is family and community wealth in jeopardy due to inadequate legal preparation to ensure the orderly transfer of property as well as systems that compound rather than mitigate challenges when that occurs. The cost to address a tangled title typically approaches $10,000 which is often cost- prohibitive. Heirs need the assistance of lawyers to navigate a Byzantine, drawn-out process that may not even be successful. In the meantime, families may be displaced from their homes and structures can fall into disrepair and neighborhood blight as heirs are unable to access capital or city home repair and property tax relief programs without proper title. Assessing expensive transfer taxes as a result of an existing mortgage is a powerful disincentive to the orderly transfer of property to heirs. By exempting these transfers, we believe Bill No. 260021 will help resolve existing tangled title and prevent new ones from developing. Through PACDC's partnership and the National Community Stabilization Trust Heirs' Property Partnership, we are working to build the capacity of Neighborhood Advisory Committee coordinators to handle tangled title, and we believe that they can play a key role in ensuring that information about this exemption, when passed, can be disseminated and acted upon by homeowners and heirs. There's no silver bullet for this issue, but we look forward to continuing to work with City Council to identify reforms at every step of the probate process to reduce the time and expense of addressing tangled titles. Thank you for the opportunity to offer testimony.
Thank you. Thank you so much. And thank all of you again for your work on this issue, for all the clients that you represent that we may not hear about those cases where you're really helping folks to maintain their generational wealth and keep their family homes in the family. We want to say thank you again, Ms. Waller. Thank you so much for coming. So sorry for the loss of your mom, but so glad that you were able to maintain and be able to share the story with us here in Council. So thank you so much. Any additional questions for these witnesses? (No response.)
All right. Seeing none, we thank you. We thank you all so much for being here today. Are there any additional witnesses to testify on Bill No. 13 260021? (No response.)
And I note that we have another bill forthcoming. Based on your testimony, Kevin, from Senior Law Center, we have another bill forthcoming. Any additional witnesses to testify on Bill No. 260021? (No response.)
Okay. Seeing none, is there anyone here to provide public comment on any of the bills or matters that we heard today? (No response.)
Is there anyone here whose name has not been called to provide testimony or public comment for today? (No response.)
Excellent. Okay. Seeing none and having no further testimony, we will begin our public meeting. And so, I will now make the call for the additional committee members who are still here in the building to return to chambers so that we can proceed with our public meeting. Thank you so much. (Brief recess.)
Okay. Thank you so much. We will now proceed with our public meeting on the previously mentioned bills. Clerk, will you please call the roll to take attendance. Members that are in attendance will indicate that they are present when their name is called.
I am present. Thank you. A quorum of the committee is present. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Thomas for a motion on Bill No. 250769.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill No. 16 250769 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit the first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Jones seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 6 250769 be recorded from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit first reading at the next session of Council. All those in favor of the motion will indicate by stating aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. Bill No. 23 250769 will be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation with the request that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit first reading at our next session of Council. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Thomas for a motion on Bill No. 260112.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill No. 12 260112 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Jones seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 2 260112 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. All those in favor of the motion will indicate by stating aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and the motion carries. Bill No. 19 260112 will be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation with a request that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading at the next session of Council. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember and Vice-Chair Bass for a motion on Bill No. 260113.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill No. 7 260113 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
The chair notes for the record that Councilman Thomas seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 21 260113 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. All those in favor will indicate by stating aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. Bill No. 13 260113 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 recognizes Councilmember and Vice-Chair Bass for a motion on Bill No. 251066.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill No. 251066 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for 11 the record that Councilman Thomas 12 seconds. 13 The motion has been 14 moved and properly seconded that 15 Bill No. 251066 be reported from 16 this committee with a favorable 17 recommendation and further move 18 that the rules of Council be 19 suspended as to permit first 20 reading at the next session of 21 Council. 22 All those in favor of 23 the motion will indicate by stating 24 aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. Bill No. 8 251066 will be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation with a request that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit the first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. The Chair now recognizes Vice-Chair Bass for a motion on Bill No. 260021.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill No. 21 260021 be reported from the committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Thomas seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 11 260021 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. All those in favor of the motion will indicate by stating aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. Bill No. 4 260021 will be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation with a request that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading at the next session of Council. There being no further bills or resolutions on the agenda today, this concludes the business before the Committee on Finance. Thank you all so much for your attendance. (Committee on Finance concluded at 11:49 a.m.) C E R T I F I C A T I O N I, hereby certify that the proceedings and evidence noted are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me in the foregoing matter, and that this is a correct transcript of the same. ______________________________ TANEHA CARROLL