As Philly City Council returns, here’s what to watch on affordable housing, tenant protections and tax abatements

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The city’s affordable housing crisis is expected to remain a front-burner issue for lawmakers when Philadelphia City Council starts a new session next Thursday.

Lawmakers are expected to finalize the funding mechanics for Mayor Cherelle Parker‘s $2 billion housing plan, consider a new tax abatement aimed at converting underused properties in struggling areas and revive bills focused on protecting renters from displacement and launching a new rental inspections program.

Here’s a look at some of what’s to come.

Getting H.O.M.E. ready for its rollout

Council spent most of last session debating the details of Parker’s Housing Opportunities Made Easy, or H.O.M.E., initiative. Lawmakers passed several pieces of legislation tied to the multifaceted effort to create and preserve 30,000 housing units. Most notably, a bill effectively authorized the city to borrow $800 million in bonds and a resolution containing the plan’s inaugural budget.

The resolution took center stage for months as lawmakers clashed with the Parker administration over which Philadelphia households should benefit most from H.O.M.E. during the plan’s first phase.

In the end, Council passed a budget amended to prioritize the city’s lowest-income renters and homeowners in what was considered a major victory for progressives.

The changes triggered amendments to the bond ordinance — the plan’s legislative centerpiece — that must now be approved by Council before the city can borrow the first tranche of funding for the initiative. The budget measure calls for $277 million but it’s unclear how much will be borrowed or when.

A final vote on the amended bond bill, which had to be updated to align with the amended budget measure, is expected during the first regular meeting of the session on Jan. 22.

New tax abatement program

On a Friday afternoon in late November, Parker announced that state lawmakers had authorized Philadelphia to launch a targeted tax abatement program for developers who convert large underutilized properties into residential housing.

The provision, approved through the state budget, gives Council the green light to pass legislation creating a local program that would exempt such projects from property taxes for up to 20 years.

The amended state legislation enables the city to implement a limited program aimed at transforming “deteriorated property,” defined as any “industrial, commercial or other business property, or property used for government purposes, including a school” that is located in a “deteriorating area.”

“This legislation, this tool that we all were able to get through Harrisburg together, is going to be a massive, massive, massive opportunity to change the calculus fundamentally to take projects that could have been impossible and bring them into the realm of possibility. To revitalize our downtown, to revitalize our forgotten neighborhoods, to revitalize our waterfront and to revitalize our entire city,” state Sen. Joe Picozzi, R-Philadelphia, told reporters during a news conference at City Hall.

Parker has said that her administration is crafting legislation to send to Council early this year. At the news conference, she said the new abatement could potentially help produce more affordable housing under the H.O.M.E. plan.

Philadelphia currently offers a 10-year property tax abatement for residential projects, including for construction and renovations.

Under an amended version of the program, new properties are eligible for an exemption that decreases by 10% each year after the first year until it’s completely phased out. Residential renovations remain eligible to receive the full abatement over 10 years.

The program, launched in 2000, was to incentivize new development in Philadelphia. And proponents, including many real estate developers, argue it has done just that, benefiting neighborhoods that suffered from a lack of investment.

Opponents have sought to dismantle the program, which they say now aids property owners in areas that no longer need the government’s help to grow.

More protections for city renters

Last April, Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke introduced the Safe Healthy Homes Act.

The legislative package is guided by three rights the lawmaker says must be preserved for tenants — the right to safety, the right to repairs and the right to relocation — especially at a time when historically high rents continue to put pressure on cost-burdened renters.

Roughly two months later, Council passed a measure authorizing the city to create an antidisplacement fund for tenants forced to move because their property has become uninhabitable. Dollars for the fund, which will provide one-time payments to tenants, were later added to the first H.O.M.E. budget, a move widely celebrated by housing advocates.

O’Rourke agreed to hold the rest of the package to allow more time for negotiation. But he plans to reintroduce the legislation during the upcoming session.

One of the bills authorizes the city to create a program to conduct proactive inspections of rental properties on a “regular cycle,” a longtime wishlist item for advocates who have been pushing for protections for tenants at risk of displacement.

As it stands, properties are only inspected if a complaint is filed with the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections. Philadelphia is one of the only big cities in the country that does not proactively inspect rental units.

Housing advocates say tenants, even those living in units that would be considered uninhabitable under city law, are often reluctant to file a complaint, because they fear their landlord will retaliate against them — particularly if they are withholding rent with hopes of getting them to respond.

Department officials have said the city is in the process of crafting a pilot program for proactive inspections. Advocates have called for $10 million for the effort.

A second measure seeks to curtail instances of retaliation by expressly barring landlords from ending or modifying a tenant’s lease simply because that tenant is cooperating with a city investigation, has discussed their living condition with a council member or reporter, or joined a tenant organization.

The city’s rental code currently bars landlords from terminating a lease in retaliation for “the joining of any lawful organization, or any other exercise of a legal right.”

Housing advocates say a case currently before the city’s Fair Housing Commission highlights the need to update the legislation, which they hope will empower tenants to speak out about unsafe living conditions.

Kadi Ashby, president of the tenants association at Alden Park Luxury Apartments, maintains that management refused to renew her lease in retaliation for helping to create the group, which formed with hopes of improving living conditions at the complex.

Management argues its decision came after Ashby shared the addresses of the building’s owners in a group chat for the tenants association — addresses that are publicly available online.

During a hearing last week, the complex’s management said the post violated the terms of Ashby’s lease because it “jeopardized the safety and well-being of these individuals and their families,” according to a letter sent to Ashby by one of their attorneys.

The commission must hear more testimony before it makes a ruling.