Office of Maria Quiñones SánchezCouncilwoman, 7th District

City Hall, Room 592Philadelphia, PA 19107

215-686-3448

LEGISLATIVE ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Creating and Preserving Family-Sustaining Jobs

Councilwoman Sánchez has worked to make the City of Philadelphia a good place to start, run, or grow a business. In order to stimulate economic activity, promote job growth, and make sure that Philadelphia businesses are competing on a level playing field, Councilwoman Sánchez has introduced and passed numerous bills to reform the city’s business tax system.

Business Tax Reform: Councilwoman Sánchez and Councilman Bill Green passed Bill No. 110554 to reform and restructure Philadelphia’s business tax system. These changes help local businesses by reducing their liability on sales made outside the city, and ensure that companies headquartered outside the city pay their fair share. Councilwoman Sánchez’s bill also creates significant benefit to small business by exempting the first $100,000 of gross receipts from taxation. This exemption will be phased in over three years beginning in 2014, and by full implementation over 50,000 of the 90,000 businesses that file BPT returns will have $0 liability. As part of this overall Business Tax Reform, new businesses will have their license fees waived, and will have no business tax liability for their first two years of operation.

Use and Occupancy Tax: Councilwoman Sánchez led the fight to ensure that the City’s implementation of the Actual Value Initiative (AVI) did not create a burden on small businesses, such as those on neighborhood commercial corridors. She introduced Bill No. 130161 which was added as an amendment to Bill No. 130182-A to provide a $2,000 tax exemption for small businesses, providing a tax cut to 78% of businesses, fully exempting just under 10,000 small businesses, and protecting “Mom and Pop” storefronts from what would have been a massive tax hike.

Single Sales Factor: Councilwoman Sánchez was the first to make manufacturing a top priority in City Council and for the City administration. Her advocacy on behalf of the manufacturing sector led to a report produced by PIDC which documented over 100,000 allied and manufacturing jobs in the city. For the Seventh Council District represented by Councilwoman Sánchez, manufacturing and small businesses represent thousands of family-sustaining jobs. As part of Bill No. 110554, the Councilwoman reformed the business tax liability structure for manufacturing. When these changes are phased in over 2013-2015, manufacturers will no longer

be penalized for being located in the city and instead will be exempted entirely from taxation on all sales conducted outside the city. This represents almost 70% in tax savings for this sector.

Community, Language Access, and Immigration to Grow Our City

Protecting Immigrant Communities: After years of advocacy by Councilwoman Sánchez along with community activists, Mayor Michael A. Nutter in April 2014 signed Executive Order 1-14 which ended the City’s collaboration with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Because of this, the City will no longer honor ICE detainer requests (commonly called ICE holds) unless an individual has been found guilty of a serious violent crime. This change will directly improve public safety all Philadelphia residents, by helping to end the widespread mistrust of the police department that has prevented immigrant crime victims and witnesses from seeking help from the police and justice through the courts.

Diverse Hiring and Language Access: Councilwoman Sánchez held hearings on the City’s language access and diverse hiring policies to make sure that all Philadelphians can access important city jobs and services. This was the first hearing ever held on these topics in the City of Philadelphia. During her time in office Councilwoman Sánchez has provided crucial leadership to make sure our City makes real progress on issues affecting minority and immigrant communities, and has fought for a bi-lingual and diverse municipal workforce by mandating bilingual employees in positions that work directly with the public.

Municipal ID: In 2013 Councilwoman Sánchez introduced Bill No. 130872 authorizing the City to issue Municipal Identification cards to residents. These Photo ID cards would increase access to City services, help with law enforcement and public safety, and could also be useful in obtaining financial services like bank accounts. Lack of government-issued identification is a problem that is disproportionately faced by immigrant communities, seniors, people with disabilities, and those with low incomes. The ID cards will ensure that no Philadelphian needs to struggle to get basic identification.

Protecting Parades and Cultural Events: Councilwoman Sánchez also passed legislation to protect the city’s cherished parades and cultural events. Bill No. 100158 protects these important community events by limiting the fees and costs they must pay to the City. Her bill helped save some of Philadelphia’s most beloved cultural events, such as the Puerto Rican Day Parade, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, and the Mummer’s Parade, which had faced cancellation in 2010.

Supporting Community Development Corporations: To support the valuable work of the Community Development Corporations (CDCs) in the Seventh District, Councilwoman Sánchez introduced and passed Bill No. 140411, which extends the deadline for enrolling in the CDC Tax credit, helping ensure that business owners and the organizations they support have access to this important program.

Keeping People in Their Homes

Councilwoman Sánchez has passed several major bills aimed at increasing property tax compliance and collections, while better protecting vulnerable homeowners.

Tax foreclosure and payment plan reform: Bill 120054, introduced by Council members Sánchez and Green, comprehensively reformed the City’s process for collecting delinquent taxes. In the past, it was often difficult for taxpayers to learn about their payment plan options. Now, all homeowners who have fallen behind on their taxes are provided with detailed information about their right to an affordable, income-based payment plan and the consequences of nonpayment. The bill guarantees one set of transparent rules and procedures, and a clearly defined timeline for enforcement.

AVI assistance for vulnerable homeowners: Councilwoman Sánchez led the passage of bills to ensure that vulnerable taxpayers would be protected during the transition to a fairer and more accurate tax system through the City of Philadelphia’s “Actual Value Initiative” (AVI).

Councilwoman Sánchez supported a strong Homestead Exemption in the amount of $30,000, resulting in an approximately $400 benefit for every homeowner who applies.

She also fought to ensure relief for homeowners whose properties have significantly increased due to gentrification, through the Longtime Owner-Occupant Program (LOOP). LOOP protects qualifying homeowners from tax increases for ten years.

She cosponsored Bill No. 130417, Property Tax Deferral legislation that will help homeowners who truly cannot afford increased property taxes and have no other options. In limited circumstances, homeowners can apply to defer payment of their taxes until they are deceased or the property is transferred, allowing them to stay in their homes and avoid homelessness.

Councilwoman Sánchez has worked tirelessly to ensure that as many homeowners as possible can enroll in these benefit programs. She passed Bill 140278, which provides a Deadline Extension for homeowners facing hardship who still need to apply for the LOOP, Deferral, and “Senior Freeze” programs. Councilwoman Sánchez also successfully obtained funding to do door-to-door outreach and assistance to homeowners.

Creating Opportunities to Reuse and Repurpose Vacant Buildings

Since she was first elected, Councilwoman Sánchez has led efforts to transform the City of Philadelphia’s broken system for managing and selling vacant and blighted properties.

Improved policies: As a member of the mayor’s Vacant Properties Task Force, Councilwoman Sánchez was instrumental in the adoption of new policies for the sale of properties owned by City agencies. She strongly supported the creation of a new Side and Rear Yard Program, which gives vacant lots to neighboring homeowners for $1 plus the costs of transfer. She successfully pushed for the adoption of more accurate prices for publicly-owned property, which have paid off by dramatically increasing the rate of successful property sales.

Land Bank: Councilwoman Sánchez led the passage of historic legislation to create a new Philadelphia Land Bank. Bill No. 130156 was unanimously adopted by City Council, and will transform the City’s management and sale of vacant properties and help revitalize neighborhoods. Councilwoman Sánchez’s legislation creates a single agency with one transparent set of rules, a long-needed reform of what has been referred to as an “alphabet soup” of local land-holding agencies. The new Philadelphia Land Bank will make it easier and quicker for individuals, community groups, small businesses, nonprofits, and real estate developers alike to purchase city property. The Land Bank will have new powers to acquire tax delinquent property, returning blighted buildings and lots into vibrant, tax-producing reuse. Councilwoman Sánchez ensured that the Land Bank will ensure equitable development, through an annual Strategic Plan process with public input, and policies to make properties more available for a range of uses that will benefit the community, including growing food, creating new jobs, and increasing access to affordable housing.

A Government “Of The People, For The People”

Councilwoman Sánchez has made reforming, improving, and modernizing City government a priority of her time in office. She has pushed legislation and executive action that would make government more open and responsive to Philadelphians.

“Freshman 15” Reforms

Councilwoman Sánchez was sworn into City Council with one of the most ambitious classes of freshman legislators in Council history. Along with Councilmen Bill Green and Curtis Jones, Jr., she spearheaded measures that would save the city over $60 million annually, and laid the groundwork for countless reforms that improved transparency and modernized municipal government. Cutting spending through simple, common-sense solutions to create efficiencies and eliminate waste will allow the City to provide higher quality services at a lower cost to taxpayers. Additionally, her ideas regarding improved collection of delinquent taxes and fees have helped to ensure that everyone is paying their fair share.

Online Access to City Regulations: The City of Philadelphia has made great strides in recent years to make government more open and accessible, and in 2014 Councilwoman Sánchez continued this trend by passing Bill No. 140131, requiring City agencies to post all proposed and final regulations online. Philadelphians have a right to know about proposed regulations that could impact their lives or businesses, and putting the full text of all regulations online will make it easier for citizens to discover opportunities to provide input and access key public information.

Preventing Blight and Improving Public Safety

High Risk Vacant Properties: Since she was elected, Councilwoman Sánchez pursued legislation to address the threat these properties pose to the city’s neighborhoods public safety and economic health. Following the 2012 fire at the Buck Hosiery factory building in

Kensington, which tragically claimed the lives of two brave firefighters and destroyed many adjacent homes and businesses, Councilwoman Sánchez successfully passed Bill No. 120229-AA. This bill requires owners of large vacant commercial or industrial properties to register with the City, post contact information, and regularly inspect the properties. Owners now have to deposit a bond with the City in order to provide the financing necessary if the Department of Licenses and Inspections is forced to repair or seal the property. It also treats properties that are found to be fire hazards as imminently dangerous, and requires prompt remediation of the hazardous condition. Investing in effective prevention will not only save the City the cost of addressing and future problems with these sites, it is also likely to save lives.

Vacant Property Licenses: Together with Council President Clarke and other colleagues, Councilwoman Sánchez has explored ways to promote the productive reuse of vacant land in Philadelphia. By observing best practices in other cities, Councilwoman Sánchez and Council President Clarke passed Bill No. 110084, which has encouraged property owners to revitalize vacant land while protecting valuable neighborhood yard and green space by exempting them from additional taxes or fees.

Landvest Scam: Beginning in 2009, a massive foreclosure crisis hit over 400 properties in the Kensington and Port Richmond neighborhoods, when Robert Coyle Sr.’s “Landvest” companies went into default and were revealed to be a scam. Coyle’s companies had entered into fraudulent rent-to-own agreements, and the resulting foreclosures threatened to force hundreds of people from their homes and create a large-scale problem of vacancy and blight. Councilwoman Sánchez set out to address this crisis and protect the residents who were having their homes threatened: she held extensive hearings in City Council, giving those most affected a chance to testify; she issued subpoenas to the banks foreclosing on the properties; she submitted a statement at the criminal sentencing of Robert Coyle; and, most importantly, she worked diligently to assist the residents affected by helping them to purchase the properties, make arrangements to stay in their homes, or find new housing options.

Demolition Reform

In the wake of the tragic building collapse at 21st and Market Streets of 2013, City Council formed a Special Investigating Committee on Demolitions Practices to seek out best practices and propose reforms that would improve public safety and protect Philadelphians from unsafe demolition conditions. As the Chair of the Committee on Licenses and Inspections, Councilwoman Sánchez was selected to serve on this Special Investigating Committee which held hearings throughout the summer and issued a comprehensive report on its findings as well as accompanying legislation to reform the City’s demolition policies.

Councilwoman Sánchez was also appointed by Mayor Michael Nutter to a “Blue-Ribbon Commission” dedicated to improving demolition and building safety standards in Philadelphia, along with local and national experts. The Commission issued a detailed report, including many

recommendations that build on Councilwoman Sánchez’s work establishing a Land Bank and improving our systems that address blight and vacancy.

Councilwoman Sánchez introduced Bill No. 130691-A which requires demolition projects to submit to the Department of Licenses and Inspections a safety plan that accurately describes the condition of the property, details of the planned demolition including method to be used ,a description of potential hazards, and details on how adjacent structures will be protected. The bill also requires projects to submit a demolition timeline, and requires L+I to inspect demolition sites at specific intervals over the course of the work being performed. Use of mechanical demolition equipment is also prohibited under this bill when adjoining properties are occupied.