Fixing assessments just the start

In coming weeks, the Nutter administration is expected to reignite the city's property-tax debate by announcing the total value of taxable real estate in Philadelphia. The figure will come from the first mass reassessment in decades. It will set the stage for the mayor's Actual Value Initiative, or AVI, potentially affecting everything from school funding to home prices. To explain the proposal, our latest report showed that Philadelphia's overhaul would be more comprehensive than those of other cities, but that the situation in Philadelphia still lacks some of the elements that have helped changes succeed in other cities. For instance, Philadelphia does not currently face a state or court mandate to keep assessments up to date moving forward; Pennsylvania is one of just nine states that does not require regular local reassessments. The risk of backsliding is real: just three years after doing mass reassessments, more than half of Pennsylvania counties studied by a legislative committee had inequitable assessments again.

Other studies also are looking ahead to AVI. Although reassessments for each property are not expected until February, homeowners likely to see big property tax increases include those who have lived for many years in neighborhoods where property values have been climbing. A recent report (PDF) by the Center City District looked at the percentage of longstanding homeowners in a number of rising-value areas. In Point Breeze, 58 percent moved into their homes before 1990, in Grays Ferry 48 percent, Pennsport 43 percent and Passyunk Square 37 percent.

Job competition tough in Philly

Online job advertisements give economists one way to view how competitive a local labor market is, by measuring the ratio of jobseekers to job postings in a given period. Over the past year, according to new data from The Conference Board, the Philadelphia region's "help wanted" ratio improved very slightly but not as much as in other regions. In October, the region had 2.9 jobseekers for every job opening posted online, an improvement from 3.0 jobless workers per opening a year earlier. But the new ratio left Philadelphia at No. 40 out of 52 metropolitan regions, down from No. 28 a year earlier. The data indicates that competition for each opening did not slacken here as much as it did elsewhere.

Getting on the bus 

Whether the prime cause is the sluggish economy, the high cost of energy, or concern about the environment, the numbers are clear in Philadelphia: use of mass transit is going up and driving is going down. Over the last decade, ridership has risen 14 percent on SEPTA’s city division, 23 percent on the regional rails, and 13 percent on the PATCO high-speed line. And during the last five years, a time when the city’s population was rising, the total number of vehicle miles traveled in the city fell by 11 percent, according to PennDot. All of this qualifies as good news for people concerned about energy consumption, urban sustainability, and air quality.

Philly ranks high in LGBT index

According to a new report (PDF) by the Human Rights Campaign, Philadelphia is one of the nation’s friendliest cities to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals. In the group’s first-ever Municipal Equality Index, Philadelphia was one of 11 cities to get a rating of 100. Among the others were New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Boston. In all, 137 cities were rated, including the nation’s 50 largest and all 50 state capitals. The index is based solely on local laws and policies. Cities were judged on 47 criteria.

Cars vs. bikes? Cast your vote

The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, which represents nine Pennsylvania and New Jersey counties, wants to hear your preferences on everything from gas taxes to bicycles for its development strategy through 2040. Take its survey at Connections 2040: Choices & Voices and learn a few things while expressing your opinion. 

School closings in perspective 

With closings or relocations proposed for 44 schools in the coming year, the Philadelphia School District would rival many major cities in the magnitude of its downsizing. Our 2011 study shows how six other large urban school districts dealt with public anger over their closings and reaped relatively modest cost savings in the short-term, with longer-term savings unclear. We are now working on a new study looking at more cities and what became of their vacant school buildings. If you are not already receiving emails about our research, sign up here to be notified when our studies come out. And please tell a friend, too.

Datadelphia

Efforts to make more of Philadelphia's government-held information easily accessible by the public are bearing fruit. This month, City Hall rolled out www.phila.gov/map, where anybody can see the location of vacant properties, crime incidents, schools, bike lanes and many other things all in one place. City Council has unveiled phila.legistar.com for easier searching of legislative information. And the administration said it is now negotiating to use OpenDataPhilly, run by the nonprofit Philadelphia Public Interest News Network, as a portal for city data.

Our reader survey

To readers who participated in our reader survey this past month, thank you! Here are some results: 60 percent of you hold jobs at nonprofit organizations, and 15 percent work in government. About 70 percent consider schools and jobs the most important issues for Philadelphia, higher than any other topic. And 28 percent of you have used our research to take an action or make a decision at work. Your answers will help us understand your interests and improve our work. Keep reading, and thank you! The survey is still open here if you wish to add your voice.  

Philadelphia 2013: The State of the City: We've begun working on our bi-annual State of the City report to be released in March 2013. Printed copies will be available, free of charge. To request one, send an e-mail to pubs@pewtrusts.org with your name and postal address.