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During its final regular meeting of the year, City Council approved funding for the first phase of Mayor Cherelle Parker’s $2 billion housing plan, a multifaceted initiative rooted in creating and preserving 30,000 units of housing.
The vote came amid intense pressure from the Parker administration, which strongly opposed changes made to the budget measure to prioritize Philadelphia’s lowest-income households.
The amended resolution is the product of a protracted legislative process. It calls for roughly $277 million in funding during the first year of the Housing Opportunities Made Easy, or H.O.M.E., initiative. Those dollars will be spread across dozens of programs to help renters and homeowners keep a roof over their heads.
The measure does not need the mayor’s signature to take effect.
“It’s a win-win for the city of Philadelphia and we’ll continue to work in partnership with the administration to address their issues and concerns, as well as members of City Council,” said Council President Kenyatta Johnson.
“I’m pretty confident that … the full impact of this program will be felt by all constituencies.”
What changes were made?
The first annual budget for the plan initially totaled nearly $195 million. Lawmakers then amended the legislation to include an additional $82.6 million in spending.
The measure now calls for $43.5 million for the Turn the Key program, which uses public lots to build new houses for first-time homebuyers who would otherwise be unable to become homeowners, including city workers. The original proposal did not include funding for the popular program.
In a major win for progressives and housing activists, the updated resolution also increased funding for affordable housing preservation and production, a popular home repair program and an effort to help tenants facing eviction and homelessness.
The measure additionally changes how funding will be allocated for two of the city’s most in-demand housing programs.
Under the legislation, 90% of funding for the Basic Systems Repair Program and the Adaptive Modifications Program will go to households earning up to 60% of area median income, or about $71,640 a year for a family of four. The data point includes places outside of Philadelphia.
The remaining 10% will go towards households earning between 60% and 100% AMI. A hundred percent of the area median income translates to $119,400 for a family of four.
“Think about it this way. Emergency room doctors must make tough calls to help a patient having a heart attack before someone with a broken bone. And none of us like that. There’s nothing worse than waiting hours and hours in an emergency room to be seen by a doctor,” said Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, who chairs the body’s housing committee, during a hearing on Wednesday.
“But we all do it anyway because this is the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection. And we understand that if our neighbor having a heart attack does not get help immediately, they might not make it,” she said.
About 200,000 households earn less than 30% of area median income, according to research published this year by the Housing Initiative at Penn. That translates to about one in three renters and one in five homeowners in the city.
Those numbers drove housing activists to push hard for changes to the H.O.M.E. budget.
On Thursday, activists applauded Council for listening to their pleas to support Philadelphia’s most vulnerable households.
“Prioritizing housing for the poor is not just a moral imperative, it is sound public policy,” said Dianna Coleman, an activist with One Pennsylvania.
Why does the Parker administration oppose the changes?
Since the start, the mayor has been adamant about the H.O.M.E. initiative serving everyone who needs help with housing — from low-income renters to middle-income homeowners. And she vowed to never engage in policymaking that pits the “have-nots against those who have just a little.”
During a tense public hearing last month, administration officials reiterated that stance as lawmakers urged them to prioritize the city’s most vulnerable and cost-burdened households.
They argued the mayor’s plan has always aimed to help that population but rejected calls to codify that objective.
“Historically, the numbers have shown that we meet those numbers regardless,” said Angela Brooks, the city’s chief housing and urban development officer. “And at the end of the day, we wanna have some flexibility as the need shifts and changes. It’s really that simple. It’s not some nefarious thing that seems to be implied.”
