PA · constitutions
Pa. Const. art. IX, § 12
Philadelphia debt
The debt of the City of Philadelphia may be increased in such amount that the total debt of said city shall not exceed 13 1/2% of the average of the annual assessed valuations of the taxable realty therein, during the ten years immediately preceding the year in which such increase is made, but said city shall not increase its indebtedness to an amount exceeding 3% upon such average assessed valuation of realty, without the consent of the electors thereof at a public election held in such manner as shall be provided by law.
In ascertaining the debt-incurring capacity of the City of Philadelphia at any time, there shall be deducted from the debt of said city so much of such debt as shall have been incurred, or is about to be incurred, and the proceeds thereof expended, or about to be expended, upon any public improvement, or in construction, purchase or condemnation of any public utility, or part thereof, or facility therefor, if such public improvement or public utility, or part thereof, or facility therefor, whether separately, or in connection with any other public improvement or public utility, or part thereof, or facility therefor, may reasonably be expected to yield revenue in excess of operating expenses sufficient to pay the interest and sinking fund charges thereon. The method of determining such amount, so to be deducted, shall be as now prescribed, or which may hereafter be prescribed by law.
In incurring indebtedness for any purpose the City of Philadelphia may issue its obligations maturing not later than 50 years from the date thereof, with provision for a sinking fund to be in equal or graded annual or other periodical installments. Where any indebtedness shall be or shall have been incurred by said City of Philadelphia for the purpose of the construction or improvement of public works or utilities of any character, from which income or revenue is to be derived by said city, or for the reclamation of land to be used in the construction of wharves or docks owned or to be owned by said city, such obligations may be in an amount sufficient to provide for, and may include the amount of the interest and sinking fund charges accruing and which may accrue thereon throughout the period of construction, and until the expiration of one year after the completion of the work for which said indebtedness shall have been incurred.
No debt shall be incurred by, or on behalf of, the County of Philadelphia.
History
Adoption. Unless otherwise noted, the provisions of present Article IX were adopted April 23, 1968, P.L.App.11, Prop. No.6.
Provenance
- Source
- palegis.us
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-30
- Edition
- supplied-2026-09-30
- Content hash
f7993986ba7329430672c37a53eb77df46b2b394061e3c4e78d0f9315da95d0b
The link goes to the issuing authority’s own document — the one we read to produce this record. Where a source publishes whole titles rather than sections, your browser may need a moment to jump to the provision.
Unofficial copy of government-published law, reproduced from official sources with full provenance. Not an official publication; verify against official sources before relying on it in a filing. Records in the 'guidance' corpus, and only that corpus, are sub-regulatory (interpretive guidelines, survey procedures) and are not binding law. Validity bounds follow each jurisdiction's declared temporalBasis.