Localmedium impact · 5/10substantive160024

City Turns to Private Collectors to Chase Down Overdue Taxes After Year-Long Delinquency

Official:Amending Title 19 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Finance, Taxes and Collections," to provide for transfer of delinquent taxes and fees to a qualified third-party law firm or collection agency; all under certain terms and conditions.

Sponsor: Councilmember Oh

Introduced: January 21, 2016

: Committee on Finance

collections finance taxation

No one voted on this bill

This bill was introduced in the 2016–2019 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 of Philadelphia to transfer unpaid taxes and fees to a collection agency when they become delinquent for more than 366 days.

What This Bill Does

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

The bill does the following

Allows the City of Philadelphia to transfer unpaid taxes and fees to a collection agency when they become delinquent for more than 366 days.
Requires the Commissioner of Revenue to transfer delinquent taxes and fees to a qualified third-party law firm or collection agency upon reaching 366 days with no repayment arrangement.
Allows taxpayers with annual household income at or below 400% of the most current United States Department of Health and Human Services Poverty Guidelines to be exempt from non-discretionary transfers to a collection agency.
Requires the Department of Revenue to provide a monthly report to the City Controller on tax collection activities.