The Philadelphia Inquirer laid out three possible reform scenarios for the Bureau of Revision of Taxes in yesterday’s newspaper. We wanted to know what you think about them. Here they are.
1 - Change how BRT Board Members are appointed. Instead of letting judges decide, let the Mayor of Philadelphia and City Council appoint members.
2 - [...]

This is a 59 minute video of last week’s City Controller debate held in Northeast Philadelphia. It features the three Democratic candidates, Alan Butkovitz, John Braxton and Brett Mandel. I’m really glad we have this video because it was a great debate. As you’ll see, all three candidates are passionate about this campaign and each [...]

The three Democratic City Controller candidates were put on the spot last night during their latest debate. The question asked by WHYY’s Chris Satullo was “What in your opinion is the most wasteful department in the city?”
If you fast-forward on this Mp3 to -21:38 on the counter, you can hear all three candidates weigh in [...]

In the race to be the Philadelphia’s Fiscal Watchdog, the three Democratic candidates weighed in on whether it was sound fiscal policy for the City to borrow against future tax revenues.
In the video, you’ll see a great exchange from last night’s City Controller’s debate held in Northeast Philadelphia.  The three candidates you’ll see include the [...]

All seven members of Philadelphia’s tax assessment agency are refusing the Mayor’s request to resign. Yesterday Mayor Michael Nutter called on them to step down after a Philadelphia Inquirer investigative series documented political favoritism in how the Board of Revision of Taxes does its job.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports this morning that the BRT Board Members [...]

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 [...]

It’s the end of the first week of April and all eyes turn to (drum roll)… the Monthly City of Philadelphia Tax Revenue Update! (.PDF brought to you by the good folks at the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority or PICA.)
Let’s go to the numbers and, using our own understanding of these numbers, translate what they [...]

I have never been one to mask my ire at the level of discourse that takes place in the comments section of our city’s arguably most trafficked online news source. So when I saw a story about a lawyer/tax deadbeat making racially tinged complaints about the city’s (and specifically the mayor’s) attempts to go after [...]

A story in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer indicates that folks in the PA and NJ region are driving fewer miles as a result of the recession and the gas price spikes last year.

Impact on the roads
Reporter Paul Nussbaum says Pennsylvania drivers in January drove 4.5 percent fewer miles and in New Jersey the decline was even [...]

More thoughts and reactions to the mayor’s will follow shortly but first a quick reaction to what most would consider a throwaway line that the mayor delivered in response to a call out from the crowd.
As the mayor went through his list of his “visions” for Philadelphia, a voice from the crowd shouted, “what about [...]