To: Darrell Clarke, Council President
Stop the Gentrification Bill
Please amend Bill 180347 to ensure an equitable distribution of Construction Impact Tax funds, by ensuring that at least half of funds in the sub-fund go to projects for people making less than 30% of AMI. Please vote Yes on the Construction Impact Tax (Bill 180351).
Why is this important?
Most Philadelphians make less than $48,000 a year, but high-end housing is growing many times faster than affordable housing. A Construction Impact Tax is desperately needed to incentivize and subsidize development of Affordable Housing... but we must make sure the tax funds go towards equitable development for ALL Philadelphians. It's not fair if all of the funding goes toward apartments that rent for $1500-$2500 a year, which would be possible under the current wording. That's why we need to amend the bill to make sure half the funding go towards housing that is affordable to ALL, and the other half can go to Middle Income housing, to reflect the fact that most Philadelphians struggle to afford even "middle income" housing.