Councilman Wilson Goode Jr. introduced a bill to City Council today that would end tax abatements for properties valued above $500,000. The bill would also modify the tax abatement for other properties: taxes would only be 100% abated for five years, and would be abated 20% less each year for four years, and 10% less for the final year.
Though the ten year tax abatement has been hailed as very successful, Councilman Goode said that his opposition to the current tax abatement "is still about tax fairness." He characterized the abatement as a way to "bribe better people to live here." He said that it was a tax for "the new, the few, and the well to do."
Councilman Bill Greene stood behind the success of the tax abatements and fiercely opposed the modified tax abatement bill. The bill will go up for a vote next week.
· Philly Bribing Better People to Live Here: Councilman [NBC Philly]
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