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ZBA director backs modest pay cap increase to expand hearing capacity
Summary
Zoning Board of Adjustment executive director Ian Heaggerty told the Council finance committee that bill 2550769 would raise the board’s annual compensation cap from $22,000 to $27,000 (leaving the $100 per‑session stipend unchanged) to allow extra hearings when needed; officials estimated a maximum fiscal impact of about $35,000 per year.
Ian Heaggerty, executive director of the Zoning Board of Adjustment, testified before the Philadelphia City Council Committee on Finance in support of bill 2550769, which would raise the annual cap on a ZBA member’s compensation from $22,000 to $27,000 while leaving the per‑session stipend at $100.
Heaggerty said the change is intended to remove a barrier to scheduling ad hoc or additional hearing days—for example, to accommodate time‑sensitive appeals—without changing the regular per‑session payment. He told the committee the ZBA has undertaken internal process reforms that reduced calendar wait times by about 43 days for regular appeals and 48 days for accelerated appeals, and that increasing the annual cap would help the board absorb unexpected hearing demand.
On projected fiscal impact, Heaggerty said the maximum cost to the city would be about $35,000 annually (roughly $5,000 per seat) but that this maximum would only be reached under a schedule of holding hearings every Tuesday and Wednesday year‑round, which he said is not anticipated. He stated the ZBA expects additional costs to be covered within the Department of Planning and Development’s personnel underspend and that the proposed change should have minimal budgetary effect in the current fiscal year.
During a brief question-and-answer period, committee members confirmed that the proposal does not change the $100 per‑session rate and that the increase is meant to compensate board members if extra meetings are required. No members of the public testified on this item during the hearing.
The committee reported bill 2550769 with a favorable recommendation and requested suspension of rules to permit first reading at the next council session.
