Panel to discuss impact of AVI in Chestnut Hill

The Chestnut Hill Community Association will host an information and discussion session concerning the city’s Actual Value Initiative (AVI). 

The free public meeting, featuring a panel of six authorities on the topic, will be held Nov. 14 at the Norwood-Fontbonne Academy, 8900 Sunset Ave.

“We have a dynamite panel,” said CHCA Board President Brien Tilley during Thursday night’s board meeting.

The panel members include: City Councilpersons Cindy Bass, Bill Green and David Oh; City Controller Alan Butkovitz, Ellen Mattelman Kaplan, policy director of the Committee of Seventy, and Brett Mandel, a Democratic candidate for Controller who has served on the Philadelphia Tax Reform Commission.

Tilley said CHCA is hosting the panel in hopes of fostering a “good discussion” of the real estate tax and what it may mean for Chestnut Hill residents.

AVI would reform the current property tax system so that all city property is fairly assessed at 100 percent of its market rate.

Property taxes are expected to increase in recently gentrified neighborhoods as a result of the initiative.

During a previous CHCA meeting on the subject, Butkovitz explained that because Chestnut Hill is not experiencing gentrification, property owners will likely not see the doubling or tripling of property taxes that are feared for some once AVI is in effect.

Other Business

Tilley reported that a series of recent meetings have explored the possibility of forming a joint task force between the CHCA and Chestnut Hill’s Business Association to address security concerns along Germantown Avenue.

Tilley noted that both organizations still have to figure out how they would work together and what the task force’s role would be. “We do have the ball rolling,” Tilley commented.’

The board also voted unanimously to approve a residential zoning variance requested by Cornelis Van Den Muyzenberg and Orla Hahn, who want to build a garage on their property at 8864 Germantown Ave.