Philadelphia council grills administration on $800M HOME plan, debates who gets priority

Philadelphia City Council's Committee of the Whole spent an extended hearing on Nov. 12 pressing the Parker administration for details about its proposed $800 million HOME housing bond, the Year 1 program statement and how the city will prioritize the people most at risk of losing housing.

Tiffany Thurman, chief of staff to Mayor Sherrell Parker, told council members the administration's plan is an "ambitious and historic" effort and reiterated the urgency: "The $800,000,000 that we propose to borrow for this very ambitious and historic plan is a serious investment," and officials must move swiftly to access the bond market this calendar year to avoid service interruptions.

Angela Brooks, chief housing and urban development officer, outlined Year 1 allocations and changes since July. Brooks said the first-year program statement totals approximately $238,000,000 and reallocates money toward preservation and repair: "We increased Basic Systems Repair and added to resources for home repairs," she said, and confirmed a $25,000,000 upfront investment for the One Philly mortgage program to expand homeownership supports.

Council members repeatedly pressed administration staff on who the plan will serve. Council President Kenyatta Johnson led early questioning about the Turn the Key pipeline and unit projections; city staff said Turn the Key's Year 1 request was raised to about $43.4 million because the bond's budget year shifted from a truncated fiscal-year window to a full calendar…