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Philadelphia City Council Proposes Lowering Tax Breaks for New Construction Projects Across the City

Official:Amending Chapter 19-1300 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Real Estate Taxes," by reducing the amount of real estate taxes to be exempted for certain improvements to, or construction of, certain residential, commercial, industrial or other business properties, under certain terms and conditions.

Sponsor: Councilmember Clarke

Introduced: April 16, 2009

: Committee on Finance

housing planning taxation

No one voted on this bill

This bill was introduced in the 2008–2011 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 reduces the amount of time new construction and property improvements are exempt from real estate taxes in Philadelphia.

What This Bill Does

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

Reduces the length of time that new construction and property improvements are exempt from real estate taxes in Philadelphia from 10 years to a shorter period, but the exact new length is not specified in the provided text (it was previously 10 years for both residential and commercial/industrial properties).
Changes the exemption schedule for residential properties, but the new schedule is not specified in the provided text (previously, 100% exemption in the first year, 90% in the second year, 80% in the third year, and so on, for 10 years).
Applies the reduced exemption period to commercial, industrial, or other business properties that have been improved, in addition to residential properties. 4.