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The city needs to do the same thing that New Jersey does - tax all properties uniformly. I think AVI is the right move in combination with collecting past-due property taxes. I think a bad argument is that if property taxes are past due, that somehow the city will miraculously collect 100%. Philly needs to step up collection enforcement and use NJ as an example -- try pulling what these property tax deadbeats do in Philly in NJ; you'd end up in jail. I think that the city's property tax rates are still very reasonable even when you take into consideration AVI. I have two friends who live in South Philly (paid $160k) and Manayunk (paid $220k). They are paying around $1300 and $1800 respectively. That's still a bargain at market assessed rates.
The mill rates are actually pretty high in Camden. Properties assessed at 200k carry about a $3000 tax bill. Some of the newer rowhomes near Rutgers carry that bill. Given that the education funding is nearly 100% supplied by the state via Abbott, what are you paying for? The problem with these TOD properties will be that prices will be high, the taxes will be high, and the services (education) will stink. If you want a city lifestyle, you can still afford many areas of Philadelphia for the same cost. I think that NJ will have to sweeten the pot to make it worthwhile for the limited buyers who would buy into a Camden TOD.
The city needs to do the same thing that New Jersey does - tax all properties uniformly. I think AVI is the right move in combination with collecting past-due property taxes. I think a bad argument is that if property taxes are past due, that somehow the city will miraculously collect 100%. Philly needs to step up collection enforcement and use NJ as an example -- try pulling what these property tax deadbeats do in Philly in NJ; you'd end up in jail. I think that the city's property tax rates are still very reasonable even when you take into consideration AVI. I have two friends who live in South Philly (paid $160k) and Manayunk (paid $220k). They are paying around $1300 and $1800 respectively. That's still a bargain at market assessed rates.
The mill rates are actually pretty high in Camden. Properties assessed at 200k carry about a $3000 tax bill. Some of the newer rowhomes near Rutgers carry that bill. Given that the education funding is nearly 100% supplied by the state via Abbott, what are you paying for? The problem with these TOD properties will be that prices will be high, the taxes will be high, and the services (education) will stink. If you want a city lifestyle, you can still afford many areas of Philadelphia for the same cost. I think that NJ will have to sweeten the pot to make it worthwhile for the limited buyers who would buy into a Camden TOD.
This, exactly this. I've said it in a couple of other threads, but that is the most pertinent part. People constantly rave about how great Hoboken or JC are without realizing that the impetus for those places to be what they are is based on the fact that NYC prices a ton of people out of their market. When you can still live affordably in Center City (I posted a link to a high rise luxury apartment building smack dab in the middle of CC with 1BR's having $2,200 a month rent), or other neighborhoods in Philly, no one is going to hop across the river to live and definitely not in Camden where you get NOTHING for your money. Camden won't turn around and become worth building until Philly itself is built out and people are being priced out of the neighborhoods. Last I checked, there is still plenty of gentrification that can happen in Philly. Even then, it's tough to make an argument to pour money into Camden, when there is plenty of opportunity for smarter development in places like Collingswood, that don't have even a tenth of Camdens issues.
Camden could change. I think that they need to focus on having businesses in the city limits instead of having a Philadelphia attitude about business. When Campbell's looks to build a new corporate headquarters, they almost blow the deal. When Campbell's offers to raze the Sears building and build a corporate park, they stall. Everyone with a job in Camden works for the government in some capcity, Campbell's, or Cooper (maybe L3, but they do a lot of government work). Is anyone else even operating in the city?
I think the much-hated Rowan-Rutgers merger would help put more post-graduate students into Camden, and improve prospects for a gown-to-town environment. If you coupled that with landing some big deals with private interests (e.g. a Lockheed, TD, or some other big South Jersey employer has skin in the downtown district), you could have some traction.
PATCO transit limitations, parking limitations, school fiascos, and many other issues aside, the location is still very good.
People follow jobs. That is shown time and time again. Places like DC and Texas are doing well because of one thing: jobs. You tax away your jobs, you tax away your city. Camden should be drumming on every business's doorstep that is looking to escape Philadelphia or another South Jersey town that wants to tax it out of existence. But I won't hold my breath either.
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