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City Council Proposes Drastic Overhaul of Philly Real Estate Tax System to Curb Growing Property Costs

Official:Amending Section 19-1301 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Real Estate Taxes," by rescinding the current single rate tax on land and improvements, and by imposing a tax on land or a split rate tax on land and improvements; all under certain terms and conditions.

Sponsor: Councilmember Reynolds Brown

Introduced: June 14, 2001

: Committee on Finance

finance housing taxation

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 proposes changing how Philadelphia taxes real estate, potentially introducing a separate tax on land and/or a split rate for land and improvements. The current single-rate tax would be repealed.

What This Bill Does

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

Repeals the current single rate tax on land and improvements, which taxes them together at a rate of $3.56 1/2 for every $100 of assessed value.
Imposes a new tax on land, with a rate to be determined by the Council for tax year 2003 and thereafter.
Allows for a split rate tax on land and improvements, with the rate on improvements to remain the same ($3.56 1/2 for every $100 of assessed value).
Requires the Council to enact an ordinance providing for a rate of taxation on land based on a comprehensive reassessment of all land and improvements in the City, to achieve revenue neutrality with the current single rate tax.