Economy

Butkovitz pledges to make property assessments revenue-neural, create a ‘taxpayer advocate’

THE PHILADELPHIA TRIBUNE — Democratic mayoral candidate Alan Butkovitz says the city’s property taxes are out of whack for many, plagued by errors and inaccuracies that served as a “back door tax increase.” Butkovitz, the former city controller, pledged Thursday to make property reassessments revenue-neutral, scrap recent property revaluations and establish a “taxpayer advocate” to challenge the Office of Property Assessment’s calculations.

Published

7 years ago

April 24, 2019

Michael DOnofrio Tribune Staff Writer

By Michael D’Onofrio

Democratic mayoral candidate Alan Butkovitz says the city’s property taxes are out of whack for many, plagued by errors and inaccuracies that served as a “back door tax increase.”

Butkovitz, the former city controller, pledged Thursday to make property reassessments revenue-neutral, scrap recent property revaluations and establish a “taxpayer advocate” to challenge the Office of Property Assessment’s calculations.

After citywide property tax assessments jumped 10.5% last year and are scheduled to rise 5% in 2020, Butkovitz accused Mayor Jim Kenney of hiking taxes without a formal property tax increase during the same period.

“I call it the Kenney doomsday real estate tax machine,” he said while standing outside City Hall, adding, “People should be taxed based on their ability to pay and income.”

Butkovitz and state Sen. Anthony Williams (D-8) are challenging Kenney in the May 21 Democratic mayoral primary.

Butkovitz committed to revenue-neutral reassessments, which means altering the tax rate when properties are reassessed so the city cannot reap new revenue.

Revenue-neutral reassessments, Butkovitz said, would ensure “the city doesn’t have an incentive to use the reassessment process as a back door tax increase, which has happened in the last few years.”

His proposed taxpayer advocate who would work as a check on OPA’s annual assessment, Butkovitz said, and be appointed by the City Council president.

“Giving OPA monopoly power to be the authority on … the assessment process hasn’t worked,” Butkovitz said.

Property values citywide increased 5% in the new round of reassessments for 2020, issued in April, while residential values rose 3.9%, said Kenney spokesman Mike Dunn in an email. More than 80,000 homeowners will see their property values decrease and nearly 34,000 will not experience any change.

Although Kenney did not include a property tax hike in his proposed budget, the increase in property values were expected to increase the city’s revenue by $53 million over last year.

An audit from City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart this year found the OPA property assessments lacked transparency and accuracy, and inexpensive homes in low-income neighborhoods were being overtaxed.

Later, a City Council-led audit of the OPA also found substantial inaccuracies and deficiencies with the office’s 2019 assessments that resulted in a lack of uniformity. The report estimated the vast majority of the city’s residential reassessments last year were off by at least 15%.

Following the audits, Kenney laid out series of reforms, including altering the OPA’s methodology for calculating property assessments (which was used in the recent 2020 assessments) and starting the search for a new chief assessment officer to lead the OPA.

Butkovitz called for more tax relief for property owners who experience spikes in assessments due to gentrification.

If elected, Butkovitz said he would revert property assessments to those of 2017, and throw out assessments for those who were overassessed and give them refunds.

“When the city acknowledges that their process was wrong, they have no authority to hold on to that tax money,” he said.

Resident Eileen Nisenfeld, who stood alongside Butkovitz on Thursday, said her property taxes increased $500 this year and 25% over two years.

Nisenfeld said gentrification and rising property taxes were driving out longtime residents in her Rhawnhurt neighborhood in Northeast Philadelphia. As her own property taxes rise, she struggled to understand why.

“Our schools are failing, our streets are a mess, crime is alarming,” she said. “Our city deserves better.”

This article originally appeared in The Philadelphia Tribune.

Michael DOnofrio Tribune Staff Writer

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Books

Oakland Mayor Reads to Children at Bookout Block Party at Marcus Books Store

Booths lined the street with arts and crafts, and children participated in hands-on art projects. A large display of books was on display and each child chose his/her free book to take home. Food and snacks were available, and free water was encouraged to keep all hydrated.

Published

5 days ago

September 22, 2026

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(L.to R.) Cherysse Calhoun and Blanche Richardson of Marcus Books join Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee with Indya McGuffin and Bean Tupou of Storyland Collective inside the store on Sept. 12. Courtesy photo.

By Barbara Bauer, Special to The Post

Floating bubbles greeted families on arrival at the Bookout Block Party held on Sat. Sept. 12 at 39th and MLK Blvd. in Oakland.

Sponsored by Marcus Books and Storyland Collective, a wonderland of activity for children stretched to Longfellow School while live music filled the air, courtesy of KWC Complex Jazz Group.

A large area of turf was filled with huge bean bags for jumping, rolling, and sitting to listen as families crowded close to listen to Oakland Mayor Barbara Mayor Barbara Lee read a book out loud.

Of the numerous booths present were, “Claim Your Scholarship,” a program for Oakland Public School students and “VOLUNTEER NOW,” a program encouraging volunteers to help boost reading proficiency. Individuals sold their art and products. Free gifts were at many tables and a raffle was held.

The event with Marcus books culminated a summer-long program organized by Storyland Collective, a literacy arts organization bringing children’s ‘storytime,’ local authors, and art activities to Bay Area neighborhoods. Marcus Books is the oldest, independent Black-owned book store in the U.S., featuring books by and about Black people here and abroad.

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Black History

Tradition Comes to the Streets in 11th Annual Black-Eyed Pea Festival at the Freedom Farmers Market

Mayor Barbara Lee stops by to support vendors, Winky Dinky Dogs owner Tyranny Allen A streamlined Oakland Black-Eyed Pea Festival took place on Sat. Sept. 12 in the lower Temescal neighborhood on the blocked off street that connect Shattuck and Telegraph avenues. An early start b

Published

5 days ago

September 22, 2026

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(L. to R.) Black-Eyed Pea Festival Director Wanda Ravernell with Barbara Lee and Winky Binky Dogs owner, Tyranny. Courtesy photo.

By Post Staff

Mayor Barbara Lee stops by to support vendors, Winky Dinky Dogs owner Tyranny Allen

A streamlined Oakland Black-Eyed Pea Festival took place on Sat. Sept. 12 in the lower Temescal neighborhood on the blocked off street that connect Shattuck and Telegraph avenues.

An early start brought together vendor regulars from festival partner, the Freedom Farmers’ Market, and vendors who have supported the festival at its previous location at Marston Campbell Park.

Wanda Ravernell, the festival producer/director was on the verge of cancelling the festival because of funding limitations in May before reaching out to Elaine Smith, president of Farms to grow, Inc., which supervisors the market.

From its start in 2014, the festival has focused on the traditions of African American culture through music, food and art. That emphasis included fresh food vendors, particularly growers of African American legacy crops like black-eyed peas, yams, watermelon, collard greens and okra, which all originate in Africa.

To Fresno farmer Will Scott of Scott Family Farms, the Freedom Farmers’ Market allows him to bring those crops to the inner city – and support the nutrition of African Americans.

Shortly after the festival opened Saturday morning with prayers and salutes to the ancestors by Wakan Wiya Two-Spirit Drum and Awon Ohun Omnira, led M. Zamora and Otobaji Stewart respectively, 86-year-old Scott, the son of a sharecropper, announced that he will put other endeavors aside to dedicate the rest of his life to raise those foods.

Smith shared that Farms to Grow assists Black farmers in helping them overcome one of their main impediments to success – distribution – while creating alliances to help Black people maintain farmland and make it prosperous for younger generations to keep farming and farmland in the family.

As the morning progressed to afternoon, a steady stream of visitors drifted from booth to booth, chatting with vendors and each other.

Scott noted that a market day like this was what he was accustomed to in his youth, where the market was not just about buying things but also a place for valuable social exchange.

The social aspect became even pronounced shortly after midday when Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee stopped by to shop and visit with some of the vendors, including Ellen Bimpeh of Sankofa, and Ravernell who was selling T-shirts designed by Stewart.

Lee is also a fan of Winky Dinky Dogs, an eatery owned by Tyranny Allen whose second brick-and-mortar venture further anchors a hub of businesses at that corner.

As he has in previous years, Andre Thierry of Accordion Soul, closed the festival with a 90-minute set that brought young and the young-at-heart on their feet to dance in a line or as impromptu couples.

And, surprisingly, the man Allen refers to as the mayor of 45th Street, came out on cane and chair to sit by the curb in the sun and listen to music reminiscent of his Louisiana roots. His appearance seemed to echo Scott’s observance about the market: to bring people together.

The Freedom Farmers’ Market is located at 4521 Telegraph Avenue in Oakland and is open on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month until Nov. 14. For more information and to apply to be a vendor, go to https://www.farmstogrow.org/freedomfarmersmarket

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Business

Attorney General Rob Bonta Continues Opposition to President Trump’s Tariff Regime

“President Trump is so intent on raising the cost of living for Americans that he is willing to break law after law to continue his tariff regime,” said Bonta.

Published

5 days ago

September 22, 2026

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Calif. Attorney General Rob Bonta. Courtesy photo.

By Post Staff

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, as part of a coalition of 25 states, filed an amicus brief in the Court of International Trade in Learning Resources v. Trump, a case challenging President Trump’s latest “unlawful” attempt to tax the states and American consumers through illegal tariffs, according to a media release issued by the California Department of Justice.

In the brief, Bonta argues the latest round of tariffs levied under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 are pretextual and are not targeted to address the purported harms of forced labor, as that statute requires, but instead are designed to re-create the tariffs already declared illegal by various courts.

Last month, Bonta and the coalition filed a lawsuit challenging the administration’s decision to impose these tariffs on over 80 countries that together account for 99.4% of all U.S. imports — costs that will be passed along to Americans already struggling with affordability.

“President Trump is so intent on raising the cost of living for Americans that he is willing to break law after law to continue his tariff regime,” said Bonta.

“Imposing these tariffs under Section 301 has nothing to do with forced labor and everything to do with continuing the President’s failed economic policy and reimposing the global tariffs that the Supreme Court invalidated,” he continued.

“We urge the Court of International Trade to declare the president’s tariffs under Section 301 illegal. Tariffs are taxes, and the American people cannot and should not shoulder the extra costs that come from the president’s illegal tariffs.”