Bloodsucking Patronage Parasites in Phila. - Inquirer Investigation

The Philadelphia Inquirer is running a thorough investigative report this week on the secret bloodsucking patronage parasites who are pulling millions out of the stressed budgets of the City and the Phila. School District. It is a little known organization called the Board of Revision of Taxes. Party hacks get paid tens of thousands of dollars a year for little work.

The agency also has a history of giving large tax breaks to politically inflential property owners.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20090504_BRT_thrives_at_expense_of_schools.html

Excerpt:

"In Philadelphia's struggling schools, $3.8 million could cover the salaries of 59 new school librarians. It could buy a year of new textbooks for 45,500 students, or dramatically reduce class sizes for nearly 4,000 kids. Instead, the district spends that much each year on 78 clerical jobs at the Board of Revision of Taxes, all reserved for loyal political workers and their families.

"It's just this drain on the school district," said Helen Gym of Parents United for Public Education, an advocacy group. "There's this constant, slow, steady drip, when you're cutting down to the bare bones."

Under a decades-old arrangement, more than a third of the BRT's workers are paid by the school district, not the city. That allows them to avoid the ban on political activity that applies to city workers."

Other parts of the series:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/44282957.html

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/breaking/news_breaking/20090504_BRT_stumbles_into_a_Council_buzz_saw.html

http://www.philly.com/philly/classifieds/real_estate/44239827.html