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to promote civic engagement in the Philadelphia region.Philadelphia Mayor Nutter Calls on BRT Board to Quit
Thursday, May 7th, 2009 at 1:14 pm - by Matt Campbell. Filed under: Reform, taxes.
Just days after a Philadelphia Inquirer investigation documenting major flaws in how the city’s Bureau of Revision of Taxes does its job, Mayor Michael Nutter announced he wants the entire agency to be overhauled. The Philadelphia Daily News blog Clout reports that in addition to requesting that the BRT’s seven board members voluntarily resign he also announced major changes to how the BRT is funded.
Nutter also announced that he is sending two pieces of legislation to City Council that would impact the BRT’s finances. The first ordinance would strip BRT board members of their salaries. The second would move the BRT funding from the agency to the city Finance Director.
“The time for change has arrived,” said Nutter, who said these steps were just the beginning of his moves to reform the BRT. He repeated that he plans to work with City Council to overhaul or dispand the agency.
So, what do you guys think? Will an overhaul of the BRT help restore the agency’s credibility? Can the Mayor still seek a property tax hike knowning that the BRT’s past assessments are unfair?
May 7th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
An overhaul can’t hurt, can it?
May 7th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Let Nutter be Nutter
He deserves our praise for his request that the BRT bums resign. One can only hope that his swift decision results in the incapacitation of this patronage board.
The BRT highlights the need for Nutter to have an outside firm audit the various city departments and agencies: how many others are so egregiously full of fat? I think every citizen of Philadelphia knows at least one person who says, “I work for the City and get paid to do nothing.”
Thank you, Inquirer, for your investigative journalism. Keep it up!
-W
http://bill84121.blogspot.com