By Jack Tomczuk

Mayor Cherelle Parker is blaming City Council for delaying the start of her $800 million housing initiative for several months and says a popular property repair program is set to run out of money in the meantime.

But Council President Kenyatta Johnson responded that he and his team “strongly disagree” with those claims, accusing the mayor of threatening the Basic Systems Repair Program to advance her political goals.

The rift, perhaps the most public clash since the pair assumed their positions in January 2024, imperils the Housing Opportunities Made Easy, or H.O.M.E., initiative, Parker’s signature strategy to preserve or create 30,000 units of affordable housing over four years.

Strongly worded statements from both sides emerged hours after lawmakers gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a heavily-amended $277 million budget for the H.O.M.E. plan’s first year.

In addition to shifting allocations for various line items, the resolution incorporated a provision that permitted the Parker administration to expand income eligibility for some benefits but stipulated that 90% of the money for some programs, including BSRP, must go to households earning 60% of the area median income – just under $72,000 a year for a family of four.

The battle over who should be first in line to reap the rewards of H.O.M.E. has been ongoing for months. Parker has argued that the initiative needs to be availble for middle-income Philadelphians, while a significant contingent of legislators has pushed for the poorest residents to be prioritized.

Parker, in a statement Tuesday night, said Council was repeatedly told that introducing new language into the resolution would present “significant legal issues.” H.O.M.E. is being funded through a bond, and administration officials say the city will now not be able to borrow the money until late March at the earliest.

“That means homes are not being restored,” the mayor added. “It means homes are not being built or repaired.”

Johnson said lawmakers are planning to introduce an updated bond ordinance as soon as Thursday to quickly resolve any discrepancies between the initial law and new budget.

In general, H.O.M.E. has received wide support in Council chambers. However, the Mayor’s Office has been frustrated with what, in their opinion, has been sluggish movement from Council. The body unanimously approved a measure in June allowing the Parker administration to borrow $800 million, and, a month later, the mayor’s team transmitted a draft of the first-year spending plan.

H.O.M.E.’s budget resolution was formally introduced in October. Legislative leaders have said that Council has been doing their “due diligence” reviewing the proposal. 

“Council’s responsibility is not to rubber-stamp legislation, but to ensure that any multi-billion-dollar public investment is legally sound and targeted to the Philadelphians who need it most,” Johnson said Wednesday in a statement.

He noted that concerns about AMI eligibility and reaching low-income residents were “raised early and consistently” throughout the process.

Parker stated that funding for BSRP will be completely depleted in February, while Johnson said any notion that any programs need to shut down as a result of the revised H.O.M.E. spending plan is “false.” There is more than enough money in the wider multi-billion municipal budget, and the Parker administration could also pull from the city’s $1.8 billion surplus, he said.

“Threatening residents with a shutdown of the Basic Systems Repair Program and assigning blame does not move this process forward,” Johnsons added. “Collaboration and working together does.”

Keywords

H.O.M.E. initiative,

Cherelle Parker,

City Council,

Affordable housing