BRT reform delayed until next week

Philadelphia residents hoping to see reforms made to the beleagured Board of Revision of Taxes will have to wait a little longer. Some City Councilmembers are frustrated by the pace of reform.

Philadelphia residents hoping to see reforms made to the beleaguered Board of Revision of Taxes will have to wait a little longer. The agency that oversees property tax assessments in the city has come under scrutiny due to recent newspaper articles revealing corruption, patronage and incompetence. Some City Councilmembers are frustrated by the pace of reform.

Philadelphia City Councilman Bill Green says he had planned to introduce a bill that could have abolished the current agency, and split its duties assessing properties, and hearing appeals, into two different entities.

But Green says Council leadership convinced him to hold off on the bill.

This took Councilman Frank DiCicco by surprise.

Green: Look, there’s no question about it we need to do some things over there, and we need to look at all the situations that are occurring over there and we need to make some intelligent decisions on where to go and I’m disappointed that we did not at least have legislation ready for today.

DiCicco and other Councilmembers hope to revisit the issue next week.