DEPARTMENT OF COLLECTIONS AND ITS DEPARTMENTAL BOARD AND COMMISSION

Philadelphia Home Rule Charter art. VI, ch. 2

in effect

Philadelphia Home Rule Charter § 6-200 Powers and Duties in General.

§ 6-200. Powers and Duties in General. Except as otherwise provided in this charter the Department of Collections shall exercise the powers and perform the duties heretofore exercised and performed by the Receiver of Taxes, the Department of Receiver of Taxes, and all other officers, departments, boards and commissions of the City, in the receipt and collection of taxes, license fees and other moneys due the City and such other powers and duties as are imposed or conferred upon it by this charter or by ordinance. ANNOTATION Sources: See the Fiscal Code of 1929. Act of April 9, 1929, P.L. 343, Section 201. Purposes: A Department of Collections replaces the former Department of Receiver of Taxes. In addition to the powers and duties thus acquired, the new Department is made responsible for the collecting of all moneys payable and due to the City. Centralization of revenue collecting functions will facilitate accountability for revenues to an extent not heretofore possible or experienced.

Philadelphia Home Rule Charter § 6-201 Functions.

§ 6-201. Functions. The Department of Collections shall have the power and its duty shall be to perform the following functions: (a) Collection of Real Estate and Personal Property Taxes-Billing. It shall collect all real estate and personal property taxes, penalties and interest due the City. All bills for such taxes shall be prepared in accordance with the assessments certified to the Department by the Board of Revision of Taxes and shall be forwarded to the respective taxpayers as soon as possible after the receipt of the certified list. (b) Collection of Income and Other Taxes. The Department shall collect the City income tax and any other taxes which now are or may hereafter be imposed by the Council in such manner as shall be prescribed by ordinance. (c) Water and Sewer Rents. The Department shall collect all water and sewer rents due to the City. It shall cause all water meters to be read punctually by its employees. Bills for water and sewer rents shall be mailed to the owners of the properties against which they are charged. (d) Collection of License Fees; Assignment of Employees to Department of Licenses and Inspections. The Department shall collect all fees or charges imposed by or pursuant to statute or ordinance for the issuance by the City of any licenses or permits. For this purpose, the Department shall assign an adequate number of its own employees to duty in the Department of Licenses and Inspections to receive such fees or charges. ANNOTATION Sources: The Fiscal Code of 1929, Act of April 9, 1929, P.L. 343, Sections 202 and 203, as amended, and 204, 205 and 206. Purposes: 1. The Department of Collections is charged with the duty of collecting all taxes due to the City. See Annotation to Section 6-200. It is to bill taxpayers for all real and personal property taxes in accordance with assessments of the Board of Revision of Taxes. 2. The Department is to collect all water and sewer rents and for this purpose is to read water meters and to do the billing. This function has been placed in the Department of Collections rather than the Department of Water since it is a revenue collecting function and should therefore be performed more efficiently by an agency charged with collecting revenues rather than one responsible for furnishing a service to citizens. 3. The Department is to collect all license fees due to the City and is to accomplish this by assigning its employees to the agency where licenses and permits are granted. The latter is required for the convenience of the public and for the strict accounting for City revenues. See Annotation to Section 6-200.

Philadelphia Home Rule Charter § 6-202 Receipts; Copies of Bills and Receipts.

§ 6-202. Receipts; Copies of Bills and Receipts. The Department of Collections shall issue official receipts for all moneys collected from whatever source. Except for bills and receipts for real estate and personal property taxes, copies of all bills and receipts issued by the Department shall be forthwith delivered to the Auditing Department. ANNOTATION Sources: The Fiscal Code of 1929, Act of April 9, 1929, P.L. 343, Section 208, as amended. Purposes: In accordance with good accounting practice, the Department of Collections, as the revenue collecting agency of the City, is required to issue official receipts for all moneys collected. To facilitate auditing, copies of all bills and receipts issued by the Department are required currently to be delivered to the Auditing Department, but bills and receipts for real estate and personal property taxes are excepted because these are issued in such volume as to make impracticable this requirement. Moreover, the Auditing Department will be able to audit adequately such bills and receipts without receiving duplicates.

Philadelphia Home Rule Charter § 6-203 Utility Accounts.

§ 6-203. Utility Accounts. The Department of Collections shall keep the accounts of each City utility separate and distinct from all other accounts of the City. ANNOTATION Sources: No specific source. Purposes: The Department of Collections is required to keep separate accounts of revenues from utility services in order to facilitate the determination of the cost of furnishing such services and so that such receipts to the extent that they exceed expenditures may be available, as Council shall determine, for meeting the cost of utility improvements and the operating costs of the utility from which they were derived. See Annotations to Sections 5-801 and 5-901.

Philadelphia Home Rule Charter § 6-204 Assignment of Employees or Agents to Other Departments, Boards and Commissions.

§ 6-204. Assignment of Employees or Agents to Other Departments, Boards and Commissions. The Department of Collections shall assign its own employees to any department, in addition to the Department of Licenses and Inspections, and to any board and commission which receives money due to the City with regularity and in such volume as to warrant the full-time assignment of such employees. In any case in which any such department or any board or commission shall receive City money irregularly and in volume not sufficient to warrant the assignment of employees of the Department to such other department, board or commission, the Department shall designate one or more of the employees of such other department, board or commission as the agents of the Department who may receive money on behalf of the City. Such agents shall be appropriately bonded, shall issue official receipts for any money received by them, and shall daily transmit to the Department all moneys received, together with copies in duplicate of the receipts issued by them. The Department shall retain one copy of all such receipts, and shall forthwith deliver to the Auditing Department the other copy. ANNOTATION Sources: The Fiscal Code of 1929, Act of April 9, 1929, P.L. 343, Section 210, as amended. Purposes: Employees of the Department of Collections are, as a general rule, to collect any form of City revenues. See Annotation to Section 6-201. Where the amount of revenues to be collected by any agency warrants it, a full-time employee of the Department of Collections is to be assigned to such agency. Otherwise, the Department of Collections has the responsibility of designating an employee of the agency to act as agent of the Department for this purpose. Strict accounting requirements are imposed in such instances and the employee must be appropriately bonded.

Philadelphia Home Rule Charter § 6-205 Banks as Agents for Receiving Taxes and Other Moneys.

§ 6-205. Banks as Agents for Receiving Taxes and Other Moneys. The Department of Collections may, with the approval of the Director of Finance, constitute any bank doing business within the City the agent of the Department for receiving any taxes collectible by it under the provisions of this charter. The method of the receipt of taxes or other moneys through any bank constituted as the City's agent under this section shall be approved by the City Controller. In all cases, any such banks shall be depositories of the City, shall be authorized to issue official receipts for the moneys received by them, shall forthwith credit the City's accounts with the moneys so collected, and shall make daily reports in duplicate to the Department, with which shall be included copies in duplicate of all receipts issued by them as agents of the City. ANNOTATION Sources: No specific source. Purposes: For the convenience of taxpayers and because it will provide the City with a safe and economical means of collecting moneys, the Department of Collections may, with the approval of the Director of Finance, authorize any bank doing business in the City to be its agent for collecting moneys due to the City.

Philadelphia Home Rule Charter § 6-206 Chargeability of Revenue Commissioner.

§ 6-206. Chargeability of Revenue Commissioner. The Revenue Commissioner shall be charged with the full amount of all tax duplicates of the several wards and also with all other accounts placed in the Revenue Commissioner's hands by the proper officer for collection. ANNOTATION Sources: Act of June 25, 1919, P.L. 581, Article XV, Section 3. Purposes: This provision continues existing law. Notes 237 | The phrase "placed in his hands" was changed by the Code editor to read "placed in the Revenue Commissioner's hands" to be gender neutral consistent with the broad Charter change set forth in the May 17, 2022 referendum. See Bill No. 220001 (approved February 25, 2022); Resolution No. 220009 (adopted February 24, 2022).

Philadelphia Home Rule Charter § 6-207 Tax Review Board.

§ 6-207. Tax Review Board. The Tax Review Board shall perform such duties as the Council shall from time to time impose upon it. ANNOTATION Sources: Cf. the Fiscal Code of 1929, Act of April 9, 1929, P.L. 343, Section 503, as amended. Purposes: The Tax Review Board is to be the official agency of the City to which taxpayers may appeal decisions of the executive branch of the government affecting their tax liability. Disputed tax cases will frequently be settled quickly and with the least expense to the taxpayer and the City through resort to the Board. The scope of the functions of the Board is left to councilmanic determination so that it may meet needs in this area as they arise.

Philadelphia Home Rule Charter § 6-208 Sinking Fund Commission.

§ 6-208. Sinking Fund Commission. The Sinking Fund Commission shall invest the moneys in the sinking fund, redeem or purchase bonds of the City, and perform such other duties as may now or hereafter be provided by statute or by ordinance. ANNOTATION Sources: See Act of June 25, 1919, P.L. 581, Article XIV. Purposes: The functions of the Sinking Fund Commission are continued substantially as at present. _______________

Source: City of Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Code and Home Rule Charter (American Legal Publishing, codelibrary.amlegal.com)URL: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/philadelphia/latest/philadelphia_pa/0-0-0-265344Fetched: 10/27/2026