Co-chairs of the town hall, Jayson Massey and Robin Mohr, opening up the meeting with giving the agenda and motives behind it. (Photo: Pryce Jamison)

Over 60 attendees gathered on Sunday afternoon to discuss affordability, habitability, and rising property taxes of city housing at POWER Interfaith’s Northwest Philly Housing Justice Town Hall at the Brother Al Center of St. Vincent De Paul.

Councilmembers Cindy Bass and Anthony Williams were set to attend and join the conversation, having agreed with organizers to hear testimonies and answer questions. However, they did not show.

Per Germantown Info Hub’s prior reporting ahead of the town hall, one of the primary purposes of the gathering was to allow Northwest (NW) neighbors the opportunity to share their experiences with council members, in hopes of humanizing some of the housing issues that are often reduced to statistics ahead of the budget vote, which is happening today, June 12. 

According to Robin Mohr, Co-Chair of the Town Hall, Power Interfaith spoke to 700 people across multiple neighborhoods and found that 60% of Power Interfaith congregants who identify as homeowners are struggling with rising property taxes. 

Additionally, 30% of renters in the congregation have had to forgo other bills to pay their rent and have moved an average of four times in the past decade. 

Housing Navigator at Face to Face’s Social Services Center, Felismina Tomas, has worked with numerous local individuals to help them achieve housing stability and has observed both the trend and its impact firsthand.

She ushered in the portion of the town hall where neighbors had an opportunity to illustrate the significance of the topic through personal testimony.

“The number of people experiencing homelessness is wrong and is growing at a rapid rate. People are being put out and rent has been raised,” said Tomas. “My hope is that Germantown in the next coming years has new developments that come up for low-income people, not just for people who are well off.”

8th district resident, Taneal Walker, shared personal stories of times when she had an inconsistent housing situation as a single mother, times of homelessness, and the hardships she experienced even after finding employment and renting a place to stay.

“I came to find out I had to work 80 hours a week just to maintain [where I lived]; it wasn’t just rent, but all utilities,” she said. “I never had free time or time to spend with my son, and when I did have a few hours, I would sleep just to get up and go back to work [with] 12 to 16 hour shifts.”

“Rent was $1500 a month. Coming from a place where I come from, that’s not affordable housing,” Walker said.

These testimonies of affordability reveal the hidden experiences within any given statistic. 

Just like those found within the 2024 Philadelphia Point-in-Time count, which is a five-year analysis from 2020 to 2024. The count shows a 16 percent increase in the number of unsheltered individuals on the streets of Philadelphia. The 2024 count showed a 38 percent increase from the previous year’s number of unsheltered individuals, alongside a 5 percent rise in sheltered homeless individuals.

Even with the absence of council members, individuals still shared questions that they had prepared, which were designed to gain insight into the council members’ approach on a legislative level in the near future.

“We just heard our Northwest neighbors describe their experiences with being priced out of their homes with increases in rent and property taxes, living in inadequate and unsafe conditions, and forgoing other life essentials to pay rent,” began Rev. Jackie Newsome from First United Methodist Church of Germantown, giving context to her question.

“What do you believe are the best legislative solutions for keeping rent affordable and ensuring property tax increase doesn’t force homeowners out of their homes?”

Even in their absence, some attendees, like Laurie Durkin from Unitarian Universalists of Mt. Airy, wanted to show that they are not against our elected officials, but rather seek to work together to find solutions.

“How can we support your leadership on our shared priorities in the coming month?” she asked.

Lilah Saber, Power Interfaith’s Director of Philadelphia Organizing, provided legislative updates on housing in Philadelphia and what people can expect going forward.

“Policy is the vehicle in which we win all the things that we wanna win,” Saber said.

Saber spoke about how the city, based on a report from the Tax Reform Commission earlier this year, is considering eliminating the Business Income and Receipts tax, which would exempt businesses from paying taxes to the city. Wage taxes may also be cut.

These taxes, along with property taxes, are some of the city’s biggest sources of revenue. According to an April 2025 report from the City Controller, 40% of the city’s $6.3 billion fund is supported by business and wage taxes, topping other major U.S. cities.

“If this plan goes through to eliminate business taxes, that will mean a loss of $700 million a year out of the city’s budget,” Saber said.

“Someone is going to have to pay this bill,” Saber added. “If those are our three biggest sources and two of them get cut, we can assume what would happen to our property taxes.”

Mayor Cherrelle Parker’s recent $2 billion Housing Opportunities Made Easy (H.O.M.E.) Plan proposal also came up. The plan would borrow $800 million to launch an initiative aimed at creating or preserving 30,000 housing units.

Saber noted that there are some positive aspects, such as the rehabilitation and construction of new homes, that would occur under the plan. But, there are still reservations that residents should have.

She mentioned “the rise of income level [requirements] in a whole bunch of different programs, so people who make $100,000 can now access these programs, even though there’s a waiting list” as a primary concern.

City Council passed the bill out of committee during their June 5 meeting and is expected to finalize it with a final vote today, June 12.

Jayson Massey also referenced recent residential developments in Germantown, such as the transformation of Germantown High School and the 75-unit building that’s set to stand across the street at 5932 Germantown Avenue, which he said has no designated affordable units

He emphasized that local lawmakers and developers should prioritize affordability for the community and the city as a whole.

“And there are two other developments that are proceeding with a combined 65 units, and neither have options for affordable housing,” Massey said, giving a glimpse into Germantown’s near future. “We need our council members to lead us to create policies for housing justice that can put our communities first to create a thriving city.”

The Germantown Info Hub reached out to the offices of Councilmembers Cindy Bass and Anthony Phillips via email, and we have not yet received a response regarding their absence. When we do get sentiments, we’ll be sure to update this story with them.