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City seeks to broaden payment options for contractors hired to trim trees overhanging adjacent properties.

Official:Amending Title 4 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled ("The Philadelphia Building and Construction Occupancy Code") by providing additional methods by which the City may pay contractors the City hires to trim, prune or remove trees that overhang or encroach on adjacent property pursuant to orders to abate nuisances, and by providing a maximum amount that property owners that may be assessed for the costs of such work, all under certain terms and conditions.

Sponsor: Councilmember Clarke

Introduced: December 7, 2000

: Committee on Licenses and Inspections

housing land use trees

No one voted on this bill

This bill was introduced in the 2000–2003 Council term and when that term ran out. The public record shows no committee vote and no floor vote at any stage, so no member of Council ever went on record for or against it.

That is not unusual here. Of the 8,465 bills introduced between 2000 and 2025, 1,624 lapsed without a single recorded vote. Ninety percent of bills that became law carry a roll call. Three percent of lapsed bills do. How this works.

Plain-Language Summary

This bill allows the city to pay contractors hired to trim or remove trees that are encroaching on adjacent properties in multiple ways, including giving them a voucher instead of cash. Property owners will be billed for the costs, but the amount they're charged can't exceed $500 per tree.

What This Bill Does

AI-written. Every figure is checked against the bill text.

The City may pay contractors hired to trim or remove trees that encroach on adjacent properties in multiple ways, including by providing them with a voucher instead of cash.
Property owners who are assessed for the costs of tree trimming or removal will not be charged more than $500 per tree.
The bill amends Title 4 of The Philadelphia Code, specifically Section PM-312.2.4, to provide a new method for payment to contractors.
The maximum amount that property owners can be assessed for the costs of tree trimming or removal is capped at $500 per tree.