City Councilman Al Taubenberger (R-at large) last week introduced four ordinances.
The ordinances would give grandparents who are serving as the primary caretakers for their biological or legal grandchildren an annual break on their real estate taxes; provide an annual real estate tax credit for any grandparent whose financial position requires them to remain in the workforce past retirement age; provide working parents with at least one child in daycare an annual tax credit equal to 80% of the parents’ real estate taxes, with a max credit of $3,800 per tax year; and provide working parents with at least one child in daycare a tax credit of 80 percent of their annual city wage tax.
“We live in economically challenging times. By and large, wages have not kept pace with inflation, leaving many Philadelphians – especially those with children at home – struggling to make ends meet. These ordinances are intended to give Philadelphians with children a meaningful break on their taxes,” Taubenberger said.
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Councilman Allan Domb introduced a resolution calling on City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart to investigate the city’s new $50 million payroll system after reported ongoing issues are potentially losing the city money.
OnePhilly, an internal system that is supposed to administer payroll, human resources and pensions for the more than 25,000 city employees, has encountered serious errors and issues since implementation. In addition to being almost four years behind its initial launch date of December 2015, recent reports have indicated that thousands of employees were overpaid and the city remains unaware of how much money was lost.
“We have a new system that was supposed to create a more efficient and effective process for every city department,” Domb said. “Instead, the city has spent tens of millions of dollars and we ended up with a system that does the complete opposite.
Domb’s resolution states that the controller’s investigation should include an audit of all contracts and costs associated with OnePhilly. Additionally, the investigation should review city policies and procedures to address issues associated with attempts to address the ongoing problems with the system.
“The city currently issues incorrect payroll checks weekly, eroding the public trust and the trust of its employees,” Domb said. “The ongoing problems and inefficiencies are compromising the city’s basic functions. The list of ongoing issues has become longer than Broad Street.”
In addition, the resolution outlines reported problems and issues with OnePhilly, including litigation from city employee unions, increases in overtime costs due to miscalculations for thousands of employees who earn time-and-a-half pay, inaccurate sick time and vacation accruals and situations in which employees have reportedly been tasked with tracking their own time.
“The city has paid almost $50 million so far for OnePhilly, and it still does not work correctly,” Domb said. “Our taxpayers deserve answers and we are long overdue for an effective solution.” ••
