City Council Bill Aims To Protect Residents In Gentrifying Neighborhoods
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- As Philadelphia's growth spreads to some older neighborhoods, a City Council bill would expand protection from tax increases for long-time residents. The bill passed a council committee on Wednesday.
Sue Patrone loves the changes that have come to her East Passyunk neighborhood, but they've pushed property values so high, she says many residents can't afford the taxes.
"Community activism helped transform the whole landscape, the whole streetscape, which helped welcome the change," she said. "The irony is we worked hard to welcome the change and now we have to go to bat and speak for how we need to be able to stay there."
Residents like Patrone are protected by the city's LOOP program, granting relief from extraordinary tax increases, but only for ten years. Councilman Kenyatta Johnson's bill would remove that time limit:
"This is to help them stay in their homes for the long term," he said.
Johnson believes it would have a negligible impact on the budget.
The bill now goes to the full council.