By Jack Tomczuk<\/p>\n
City Council on Wednesday advanced an updated $800 million bond measure for Mayor Cherelle Parker\u2019s housing program that the mayor\u2019s top deputies say she will not support.<\/p>\n
The rupture between legislative leaders and the Parker administration<\/a> over who should be able to qualify for certain forms of housing assistance could derail the Housing Opportunities Made Easy, or H.O.M.E., plan, the mayor\u2019s initiative to build or preserve 30,000 units of affordable housing over four years.<\/p>\n Lawmakers granted preliminary approval to the bond bill, and a companion resolution detailing H.O.M.E.\u2019s $277 million first-year budget could receive a final vote as early as Thursday.<\/p>\n Both pieces of legislation incorporate provisions prioritizing those of more modest means. The budget resolution mandates that 90% of the money for two popular programs \u2013 Basic Systems Repair<\/a> and Adaptive Modifications<\/a> \u2013 be directed to residents earning no more than 60% of area median income.<\/p>\n Parker has proposed raising the current income eligibility for BSRP and Adaptive Modifications from 60% of AMI to 100%.<\/p>\n AMI is set on a metropolitan basis, meaning higher incomes in suburban counties drag up the metric. For a single person, 100% AMI is set at $83,600, and the number is just under $120,000 for a family of four, according to the website for the city\u2019s Department of Housing and Urban Development.<\/a> 60% AMI is $50,160 for an individual and $71,640 for a four-person household.<\/p>\n Tiffany Thurman, Parker\u2019s chief of staff, urged lawmakers on Wednesday to remove a clause in the bond ordinance that gives Council authority over AMI guidelines or amend it to cover no more than 60% of funding for a particular benefit.<\/p>\n \u201cBoiling individuals down to just their income ignores the real-life, lived experience of everyday, working-class Philadelphians,\u201d said Thurman, adding that AMI does not account for debt and other factors.<\/p>\n One in three city employees, equivalent to about 9,000 households, make between 60% and 100% AMI, which would exclude them from the bulk of the funding, Thurman said.<\/p>\n \u201cH.O.M.E. is not only a housing program,\u201d she added. \u201cIt\u2019s also a recruitment tool to attract and retain City of Philadelphia employees.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI hope one day we get to the point where our city workers are getting paid enough where they don\u2019t have to sign up,\u201d responded Council President Kenyatta Johnson.<\/p>\n Although Thurman asserted that Council\u2019s change \u201ceffectively caps\u201d eligibility at 60%, Councilmember Jamie Gauthier stressed that the legislation does expand income limits while ensuring that 90% of the money goes to those who need it most.<\/p>\n Data from Gauthier\u2019s office shows that the average income exceeds 60% AMI in only two of the city\u2019s 10 geographic Council districts.<\/p>\n She noted that the 10% figure for middle-income families came from the Parker administration\u2019s own projections about the increase in applications they expected to receive by easing the salary restrictions.<\/p>\n \u201cTo hear people claim that this body is pitting higher income folks against working families, it\u2019s really hard to tell if this is a misread of the facts or a deliberate attempt to misinform,\u201d said Gauthier, Council\u2019s housing committee chair.<\/p>\n Lawmakers moved the bond ordinance out of committee in a 13 to 3 voice tally, with Curtis Jones Jr., Anthony Phillips and Brian O\u2019Neill voting \u2018no,\u2019 according to legislative officials.<\/p>\n Jones, after the vote, questioned why Council did not formally consider an amendment requested by the Parker administration\u2019s position. Johnson indicated he had not seen any proposed changes; the amendment document was apparently not circulated until 90 minutes after the hearing started, Council officials said.<\/p>\n Parker, in a statement Wednesday afternoon, noted that the amendment was not introduced and vowed that her \u201cmission won\u2019t change.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole debate over income eligibility limits for BSRP and Adaptive Modifications is to make sure that we leave no working Philadelphian and no qualifying Philly rowhome owner excluded from these vital programs,\u201d she said. \u201cThat includes city employees too. We have a duty and a responsibility to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Thurman also asked lawmakers to delay a vote on the budget resolution so that it can be considered alongside the bond ordinance, which, per Council rules, cannot come up for final approval until the body returns from its holiday break in late January.<\/p>\n Representatives from the mayor\u2019s team had previously expressed frustration with what they perceived as Council\u2019s sluggish movement on H.O.M.E.<\/p>\n