WHEREAS, The School District estimates that its facilities require approximately $5 billion in capital repairs to ensure a safe and healthy environment for students, including $125 million to remediate lead and asbestos; and
WHEREAS, In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the School District is projecting a nearly $900 million budget shortfall by the end of fiscal year 2026; and
WHEREAS, Property taxes represent the largest local contribution to the School District’s budget, and Philadelphia has an extraordinary amount of tax-exempt land; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia’s wealthiest nonprofits are currently afforded tax-exempt status resulting in exemptions from the payment of hundreds of millions of dollars that would otherwise be due to the School District, thereby placing additional burdens on Philadelphia’s remaining taxpayers; and
WHEREAS, These wealthy nonprofits rely on Philadelphia’s public services, infrastructure, and cultural environment to thrive; and
WHEREAS, Many Philadelphians, including those directly impacted by toxic school facilities and those with ties to wealthy nonprofits, have called for these institutions to contribute 40% of foregone property taxes annually to the School District as Payments In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOTs); and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia needs more permanent sources of revenue in order to address the many environmental hazards within School District facilities which threaten the health and safety of Philadelphia’s most vulnerable children; and
WHEREAS, Approximately 80% of School District buildings were built prior to 1978 and are likely to contain environmental hazards such as asbestos insulation and lead paint, as well as asthma triggers such as mold, mouse feces and urine, and cockroach parts; and
WHEREAS, The inhalation of asbestos fibers causes several types of life-threatening diseases, including asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma; and
WHEREAS, The vast majority of students in the School District are low-income children of color, and over 50% are Black students. Children of color, especially Black children, are at a higher risk for health conditions associated with environmental hazards; as many as one in four children in some Philadelphia neighborhoods have chronic asthma, and environmental hazards can trigger life-threatening asthma attacks. Black children are two times as likely to be hospitalized for asthma and are four times as likely to die from asthma as white children; and
WHEREAS, Lead poisoning can seriously harm a child’s health and cause well-documented negative effects such as damage to the brain and nervous system, slowed growth and development, learning and behavior problems, and hearing and speech problems; and
WHEREAS, As many as 1 in 4 children in some Philadelphia neighborhoods have chronic asthma and environmental hazards can trigger life-threatening asthma attacks. Black children are two times as likely to be hospitalized for asthma and are four times as likely to die from asthma as White children; and
WHEREAS, All children deserve to learn in a safe and healthy environment; now,therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, that the Committee on Children and Youth is hereby authorized to conduct hearings examining the relationship between the property tax exemption for wealthy nonprofits on the School District’s budget and the resulting environmental hazards in School District facilities on the health and safety of Philadelphia’s most vulnerable children.
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