Local property owner Bill Baumann wants to pay an extra $900 in taxes per year.
Baumann is an avid supporter of a University City District effort to gain taxing power over roughly 2,500 local properties.
UCD -- which provides maintenance and safety programs for the area -- is seeking to become an official neighborhood improvement district, which would legally allow the organization to tax real estate in order to secure stable funding.
The money earned through taxation would fund the district's projects.
To be a neighborhood improvement district under state law, the organization must earn the approval of at least 51 percent of the affected property owners as well Philadelphia City Council.
Under UCD's current plan, the pending taxation will only apply to owners of more than four units in the district, but this number may change.
Funding for the not-for-profit organization has largely come from voluntary contributions from institutions like Penn, Drexel University and University of the Sciences, which will continue to donate funds even if the plan is implemented.
But UCD Executive Director Lewis Wendell said his group currently has "no stable funding source, no recurring revenue that's mandated."
Since 1997, UCD has launched local initiatives that include safety patrols, park clean-ups and garbage collection.
David Adelman -- CEO and president of Campus Apartments, which would have to pay UCD taxes if the plan is approved -- said that UCD cannot achieve its full potential unless it secures stable funding.
"The University City District, since its founding, has helped create a more safe and bright environment," said Adelman, who also sits on the UCD steering committee, which is currently examining the issue. "Knowing there is a reliable funding source will help its future plans for infrastructure improvements, such as street lighting."
Baumann, who has lived in the area for 35 years and owns six buildings in Powelton village, said the organization has made a substantial impact since its inception.
"UCD came in with security, cleaning up curbs, sidewalks, graffiti removal," he said. "I think they've done a superb job of it. They're always there. UCD always comes through."
Though Baumann will likely end up paying the district $900 a year if the proposal is approved, he wholeheartedly supports the organization's plan.
"The benefits greatly outweigh the costs," he said. "There's no question."
Not all property owners agree, however.
"I have serious questions about the successes that they claim," said Glenn Moyer, who owns three local properties. "I approve of their garbage collection services, but [the proposal] needs to be evaluated in front of the community."
Moyer added that renters will be the ones who have to pay the new tax.
"This cost is going to be passed off to all the renters, which make up 80-some percent of all the residents around here," he said. "And they need to be included into this discussion as well for this to have legitimacy."
UCD held a meeting last week to discuss the initiative, in which it invited property owners who may be affected. But the organization plans to hold public meetings in the future as well, Wendell said.
He roughly estimated that the UCD-imposed tax would equal approximately 10 to 12 percent of what real-estate holders pay in city property taxes.
Students who rent units from Campus Apartments should not fear rent changes as a result of the district's tax if the plan is approved, Adelman said.
"We're the largest private contributor to UCD and have been for five years," he said. "That hasn't been a factor in how we charge students for rent."
UCD plans to continue discussing details and hopes to present the proposal to City Council in February.
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