On July 14, Governor Rendell signed House Bill 139, the state enabling legislation for the Trust Fund, into law. The legislation takes effect on September 12, 2005.

Click here to read House Bill 139.

Local Legislation

On August 3, Mayor Street signed an executive order (the final authorizing document for the Trust Fund) at a joint press conference between city and state officials and housing advocates celebrating the creation of the Trust Fund. The City began collecting the new fees that are supporting the Trust Fund on September 12, 2005.

On June 9, the Philadelphia City Council voted unanimously to pass Bill #050059 and create the Philadelphia Housing Trust Fund! Councilwomen Jannie Blackwell and Blondell Reynolds Brown introduced the bill on behalf of Mayor Street on February 3, in the first Council session of 2005, and the bill was voted unanimously out of the City Council Committee on Housing, Neighborhood Development, and the Homeless on June 1.

Congratulations and a sincere thank you to the many people who supported the Trust Fund, showed their support at Council meetings, and contacted their Councilmember urging them to support the Trust Fund. This is an historic event. Without your support, the bill would not have passed!

Thank yous are now due. Please contact your Councilmember and thank them for supporting the Housing Trust Fund.

Here are some specifics on Bill #050059:

• The Trust Fund will support housing production, housing preservation and home repair, preventing homelessness, and increasing housing accessibility. At least half of program funds must be spent on housing production, ensuring that this will remain the priority of the Trust Fund.
• Trust Fund dollars will address a wide range of low and moderate incomes. Half of Trust Fund dollars will be used to benefit households at or below 30 percent of area median income (about $20,000/year for a family of four), and half will benefit households between 30 percent and 115 percent of area median income (about $80,000/year for a family of four).
• To ensure accountability for these funds, an Oversight Board will monitor the Trust Fund's progress and make ongoing recommendations to the City on Trust Fund guidelines. In addition, the Administration has committed that Trust Fund resources will be included in the City's annual Consolidated Plan and subject to comment from the public and review by City Council.
• A surcharge on document recording fees, expected to raise nearly $15 million per year, will initially support the Trust Fund. The Oversight Board is charged with carrying out a thorough study of the housing funding needs of Philadelphia and recommending additional funding sources. This study is to be completed by the end of 2005.
• The Trust Fund will have specific targets for accessibility and visitability. These targets were worked out between disability advocates, housing developers, and City officials to ensure that the needs of everyone are addressed in a way that supports and promotes housing development.

Click here to download a PDF copy of Bill #050059.