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Dear Councilmembers Who Voted *AGAINST* Property Tax Reform:

Okay, here is a scenario for you. It is real, true and another
reason to leave Philadelphia.

My house is a rehabbed Victorian twin. My taxes are $875.00 per
year. The house next door is a vacant twin, exactly like mine.
The taxes are $279.00.

The dirt under my house is assessed at $3200, the dirt nextdoor
is assessed at $789. My assessment is done annually and my
taxes due are increased annually. The property nextdoor has not
been assessed in sven years. It has been vacant and collapsing
for 22 years.

BRT says that my taxes are going up because I live in a "hot"
neighborhood, my home is increasing in value whether I rehab or
not. Is the land nextdoor in a different neighborhood?

At this point every dollar I spend increases the value of the
vacant hovel next-door. At this point if I decide to sell and
get out of this city I cannot get full market value for my house
because it sits next to a vacant crime magnet.

The BRT says that they are under no obligation to inspect
properties on an annual basis. This directly contradicts the
Commonwealth's regulations regarding a class 1 city.

On my block there are at least ten single family homes which
have converted to apartments with two or three units. L&I
checked them and they were almost all done legally. BRT
continues to assess these properties as single family
properties. They are taxed as single family properties without
regard to the additional burden that they place on water and
sewer lines or the police who are called to break up conflicts
that these renters get into. The property owner is getting
income from subdividing his property- is it taxed or reflected
in his assessment? Nope.

Mayor Street and City Council squeal constantly about lack of
money. They whine that the Commonwealth cheats us and that we
cannot afford to continue the poor job we do educating children
without help. Perhaps they should have BRT actually look around
and assess, not guess. They would find that they could draw
more money out of the neighborhoods and perhaps lessen some of
the burden that those of us who pay full value are suffering
from.

My annual tax is now equal to 1 1/2 months mortgage payments.
Where does it stop? Why do I pay the usual single family tax on
this block when my quality of life suffers from the pigesons,
whores, drunks and dopers that squat on the property nextdoor?
Can anyone explain any of it?

What are these people elected or appointed to do? What am I not
getting?

Thanks for your time.

Dear Councilmembers Who Voted *AGAINST* Property Tax Reform:

You are destroying Philadelphia's future as a 'world class city'
that Mayor Street keeps bragging about. We need tax reform, not
higher taxes.

The future of Philadelphia cannot be successfully sustained by
the hard earned cash of working and lower class property owners
of Philadelphia. You are picking the easy fruit (and handing it
to your friends who helped get you your jobs). Philadelphia is
as corrupt as ever.

Give the citizens who pay your salaries the property tax reform
(and city wage tax that was promised) that we not only deserve
but need or you will most certainly kill the golden goose.

VISION! Ask yourself, what is the future of Philadelphia, and
how can we achieve it on a shoe-string budget? If you can't see
any solutions, I'm sure you competition in the next election
will.

Democrats for Katz!!!

Thank you for your time.

Dear Councilmembers Who Voted *AGAINST* Property Tax Reform:

Shame on you. People who live and work in Philadelphia already
pay between 5%-15% of their income in city wage and/or business
privilege tax. Add a whopping property tax increase to the bite
you just took out of me as a self-employed Philadelphia property
owner, and Upper Darby starts looking *really* good to me.

Dear Councilmembers Who Voted *AGAINST* Property Tax
Reform:Thanks again for nothing. I'll be shore to remember all
of you at the next election. I'll also tell all my family and
friends. Larry Keys