City Council Revives $6.5 Million Tax Break Plan for Sameric/Boyd
PHILADELPHIA, PA — Philadelphia’s City Council is reviving plans to give the Goldenberg Group a $6.5 million tax break for restoring the Sameric/Boyd theater, according to this report in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The so-called The Tax Increment Financing measure, or TIF, had previously been withdrawn from the Council after complaints about the package’s largesse — the subsidy would include $6.4 million in funds from the City of Philadelphia, along with a $12.5 million grant from the State of Pennsylvania. Yet, members of the Street Administration have argued that saving the Sameric — and the benefits doing so would bring — is worth the price.
“We’re going to try to make the case that this is a unique and extraordinary project. So, if we want this project to happen we may have to consider public funding standards that are not normal,” Cuorato said.
According to Councilman Darrel Clarke, the TIF bill will be reintroduced later this month, and is expected to successfully win a majority vote.
(Thanks to Howard Haas at Save the Sameric for sharing this news.)