{"id":217142,"date":"2019-03-27T06:42:49","date_gmt":"2019-03-27T13:42:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=217142"},"modified":"2022-04-03T16:01:07","modified_gmt":"2022-04-03T23:01:07","slug":"examining-philadelphias-property-tax-abatements","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/examining-philadelphias-property-tax-abatements","title":{"rendered":"Examining Philadelphia\u2019s Property Tax Abatements"},"author":5152,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[931],"tags":[361,341,327582,327592],"industry":[],"esri-blog-category":[478482],"esri_blog_department":[478192],"class_list":["post-217142","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spatial-analysis","tag-blight","tag-economic-development","tag-opportunity-zones","tag-philadelphia","esri-blog-category-services","esri_blog_department-gis-for-good"],"acf":{"video_source":"","video_start":"","video_stop":"","short_description":"The Philadelphia City Council examines tax incentives, using GIS to understand the impact of redevelopment on its citizens across space and time.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<em>This story is part two of a two-part series that examines the impacts of Philadelphia\u2019s renewal policies. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/maps-help-ensure-equity-in-philadelphias-journey-to-curb-blight\/\">first installment<\/a> explores the impact on vulnerable populations.<\/em>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Right","content":"Key Takeaways\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Developers have taken advantage of redevelopment incentives in Philadelphia, turning a declining city into a growing one.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The Philadelphia City Council has examined the implications of tax incentives, using GIS to look across space and time.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>With increased clarity on the implications of change, the City Council continues to tune policy to minimize the impact to the disadvantaged.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"In the early 2000s, few cities would have chosen to swap places with Philadelphia. The city confronted major economic hardships and a massive volume of derelict and declining properties. A report estimated that 40,000 vacant or abandoned properties were dragging the city down.\r\n\r\nThe Philadelphia City Council acted with a series of anti-blight policies, including a tax abatement incentive that let property owners avoid paying taxes on property improvements for ten years. These policies helped renew neighborhoods and have contributed to a city on the rebound.\r\n\r\nWith renewal well underway, but uneven, the Philadelphia City Council has begun to explore the implications of these policies on its residents.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe abatement has done its job to spur development, but maybe it's done it in a way that's creating problems for us now,\u201d said Herb Wetzel, director of Housing and Community Development, Philadelphia City Council."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":217022,"image_position":"right","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<strong>Examining Redevelopment Patterns<\/strong>\r\n\r\nWhen Philadelphia City Council passed the tax abatement program, it very consciously allowed developers to pick anywhere in the city to redevelop and did not cap the abatement limit based on the value of the property.\r\n\r\nThe tax abatement applies to commercial, industrial, and residential properties. If it's an existing building and you spend $2 million to improve it, the $2 million gets abated.\r\n\r\n\u201cWhen people read that somebody bought a $12 million condo and they're paying taxes on $500,000, it's upsetting to them,\u201d Wetzel said. \u201cThe most important thing we could do was add to the content of the discussion by showing where redevelopment started and where it's moving.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe city\u2019s geographic information system (GIS) provides the means to explore the city\u2019s renewal on a map. It allows the user to look at neighborhoods and individual parcels to see when an abatement was issued, the history of property taxes, the land value, the improvement value, and how much of the property is abated.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe looked at the tax abatement through space and time to see where the program was having the most effect,\u201d said Greg Kingery, GIS analyst with the Philadelphia City Council. \u201cWe could see the growth in and around Center City, confirming the suspicions of staff and council members, and informing the policy discussion.\u201d"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":216962,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<strong>Fine Tuning the Incentive<\/strong>\r\n\r\nLooking at the past 20 years of development, the City Council has started asking whether the city has been subsidizing the right mix in the right areas. The spatial context\u2014viewing details on a map\u2014adds a crucial element to the discussion.\r\n\r\n\u201cIn terms of understanding the distribution of the abatement, we know that 80% of the abatements issued since 2005 have been in three council districts,\u201d Kingery said.\r\n\r\nThe City Council has also begun querying the demographic shifts within the city.\r\n\r\n\u201cIn 2000, we had a thriving Center City in Philadelphia with about 100,000 residents and most of the surrounding neighborhoods were predominantly African American working class,\u201d Wetzel said. \u201cNow, we have over 200,000 people living in Center City and most of those working-class African American neighborhoods have or are in the process of being gentrified.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe Graduate Hospital neighborhood provides one example. It was 90% African American in 1980, 72% African American in 2000, and 22% African American in 2016. The neighborhood contains 2,300 abated properties.\r\n\r\n\u201cThere's a connection between providing abatements and changing demographics,\u201d Wetzel said. \u201cHas the 10-year abatement become more than an economic stimulus and created jet fuel for gentrification?\u201d\r\n\r\nWith these outcomes becoming clearer, three bills have been introduced to City Council to adjust the abatement program."},{"acf_fc_layout":"quote","image":217162,"text":"Having a spatial context\u2014combining knowledge of land and people\u2014is really integral to moving Philadelphia forward","author_name":"Greg Kingery","author_profession_organization":"GIS analyst, Philadelphia City Council"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<strong>Compounding Incentives<\/strong>\r\n\r\nIn 2017, the Tax Cut and Jobs Act passed by Congress created a federal Opportunity Zones program to spur private sector investments in low-income urban and rural communities nationwide. This program gives investors with capital gains tax liabilities a mechanism to reduce their taxes by investing in an Opportunity Zone designated by each state.\r\n\r\nIn Pennsylvania, a similar statewide program has been in play since 1999 with the <a href=\"https:\/\/dced.pa.gov\/business-assistance\/keystone-opportunity-zones\/\">Keystone Opportunity Zone<\/a> program. The program offers tax abatement for state business taxes and other local business taxes if businesses relocate into these areas, invest in renewal, and create jobs.\r\n\r\nSome of the Federal Opportunity Zones overlay the Keystone Opportunity Zones, and in Philadelphia the local tax abatement is still in effect. This means that a developer could triple dip into these programs in the city and reap compounding tax savings.\r\n\r\nAs cities around the country contemplate the implications of the federal Opportunity Zones, Philadelphia\u2019s experience and its policy evolution stand as a good example for monitoring and analyzing impacts of these tax incentive programs.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe recently held a hearing on the federal Economic Opportunity Zones for council members,\u201d Kingery said. \u201cAs everyone tries to understand the ins and outs of the Federal Opportunity Zones, the map helps inform the relation of the zones to council districts, who lives there, and how they might be impacted by development.\"\r\n\r\nThe presentation included a Story Map with a set of demographic tabs across the top to display ethnicity, education level, median income, and housing values. With a council district overlay, council members could look at their districts and the people that will be impacted.\r\n\r\n\u201cHaving a spatial context\u2014combining knowledge of land and people\u2014is really integral to moving Philadelphia forward,\u201d Kingery said."},{"acf_fc_layout":"gallery","gallery_images":[216922,216942,216902]},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<strong>Ongoing Analysis<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe property tax abatement does take out a chunk of revenue from the city for ten years, but other taxes contribute to the city\u2019s coffers.\r\n\r\nWith all of the construction, permit and licensing fees have increased. A local income tax for residents and non-residents has grown with the growing population as well as from the construction workers. The people who move into the renewed housing also add to the city\u2019s sales and income tax.\r\n\r\nWith many of Philadelphia\u2019s ten-year tax abatements coming to a close, the City Council has plans for the renewing tax funds.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe share the property tax with the school district, and the city's share of that tax is committed to affordable housing,\u201d Wetzel said. \u201cFor just this year, that's $19 million more for affordable housing.\u201d\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nLearn more about how GIS supports <a href=\"http:\/\/solutions.arcgis.com\/local-government\/planning-and-development\/\">planning and development<\/a>."}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Philadelphia Examines Opportunity Zone Tax Abatements<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Philadelphia uses GIS to examine the impacts of tax incentives, including new federal opportunity zones, to buffer those displaced by gentrification.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/examining-philadelphias-property-tax-abatements\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Examining Philadelphia\u2019s Property Tax Abatements\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Philadelphia uses GIS to examine the impacts of tax incentives, including new federal opportunity zones, to buffer those displaced by gentrification.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/examining-philadelphias-property-tax-abatements\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Esri\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-03T23:01:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Philly_skyline_sunrise_826.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Esri\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/examining-philadelphias-property-tax-abatements\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/examining-philadelphias-property-tax-abatements\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Philadelphia Examines Opportunity Zone Tax Abatements\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2019-03-27T13:42:49+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2022-04-03T23:01:07+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Philadelphia uses GIS to examine the impacts of tax incentives, including new federal opportunity zones, to buffer those displaced by gentrification.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/examining-philadelphias-property-tax-abatements#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/examining-philadelphias-property-tax-abatements\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/examining-philadelphias-property-tax-abatements#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Examining Philadelphia\u2019s Property Tax Abatements\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Esri\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Esri Newsroom\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/c2fa2859e15b7c7ef76cdd6e47c411f6\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Rob Matthews\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Matthews_Rob.jpg\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Matthews_Rob.jpg\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Rob Matthews\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"description\": \"Rob Matthews, AICP is Director of Urban Planning and Community Development at Esri. His mission is to help communities around the world become truly sustainable and economically vibrant. As a systems thinker, he works at the intersection of digital design tools and urban development\u2014defining and promoting 'smart enterprise' and online solutions that transform the design, development, and operation of our cities.\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/author\/rob_matthews\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Philadelphia Examines Opportunity Zone Tax Abatements","description":"Philadelphia uses GIS to examine the impacts of tax incentives, including new federal opportunity zones, to buffer those displaced by gentrification.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/examining-philadelphias-property-tax-abatements","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Examining Philadelphia\u2019s Property Tax Abatements","og_description":"Philadelphia uses GIS to examine the impacts of tax incentives, including new federal opportunity zones, to buffer those displaced by gentrification.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/examining-philadelphias-property-tax-abatements","og_site_name":"Esri","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/","article_modified_time":"2022-04-03T23:01:07+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Philly_skyline_sunrise_826.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Esri","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/examining-philadelphias-property-tax-abatements","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/examining-philadelphias-property-tax-abatements","name":"Philadelphia Examines Opportunity Zone Tax Abatements","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-03-27T13:42:49+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-03T23:01:07+00:00","description":"Philadelphia uses GIS to examine the impacts of tax incentives, including new federal opportunity zones, to buffer those displaced by gentrification.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/examining-philadelphias-property-tax-abatements#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/examining-philadelphias-property-tax-abatements"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/examining-philadelphias-property-tax-abatements#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Examining Philadelphia\u2019s Property Tax Abatements"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/","name":"Esri","description":"Esri Newsroom","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/c2fa2859e15b7c7ef76cdd6e47c411f6","name":"Rob Matthews","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Matthews_Rob.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Matthews_Rob.jpg","caption":"Rob Matthews"},"description":"Rob Matthews, AICP is Director of Urban Planning and Community Development at Esri. His mission is to help communities around the world become truly sustainable and economically vibrant. As a systems thinker, he works at the intersection of digital design tools and urban development\u2014defining and promoting 'smart enterprise' and online solutions that transform the design, development, and operation of our cities.","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/author\/rob_matthews"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog\/217142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/blog"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog\/217142\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217142"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=217142"},{"taxonomy":"esri-blog-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/esri-blog-category?post=217142"},{"taxonomy":"esri_blog_department","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/esri_blog_department?post=217142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}