The Philadelphia Department of Revenue is proud to announce we’ve received two separate awards from the Federation of Tax Administrators (FTA).

The awards reflect our determination to best serve Philadelphia’s taxpayers – to provide valuable information and critical assistance through innovative projects.

The first award was for our use of videos as a tool to educate and engage taxpayers and water customers. The second award is for evidence-based initiatives that deliver homeowner assistance in Philly neighborhoods.

Short overviews of both projects follow below. For more details, you can read the full nominations on the FTA’s website.

Eat your broccoli  

People don’t usually like to read about taxes and water bills. But with videos, we’ve tried to make those topics more palatable. The truth is that information about tax obligations, as well as assistance programs, is vital to residents. We liken our government videos to “the broccoli of YouTube.”

With that in mind, our department has built up the capacity to produce and share our own videos. This now includes:

We’re not trying to reach YouTube stardom. Our videos are meant to make information easier to share with constituents.

We’re in your area

Revenue staff work very hard at designing, administrating and promoting our assistance programs. These programs save homeowners money and protect them from foreclosure. But often at-risk residents are reluctant to come into -or even contact- Revenue to apply.

As the FTA Awards judges noted, “taxpayers may not understand available tax relief programs or fail to take action to protect their rights.”

We tried to address this problem by organizing neighborhood pop-up events. Residents can sign up for assistance right on the spot. The award-winning project wasn’t as simple as it sounds. It included:

  • Partnering with local councilmembers who neighbors trust.
  • Relying on behavioral science to craft invitations.
  • Using data analysis to send targeted mailings and pick event locations.

Measuring outcomes was also part of the project. Data collected helped determine if we should continue similar events in the future. We determined that for every $1 the department spent on the pop-up events, we resolved $60 of delinquent tax debt.

“[The Department of Revenue] is taking action to not let ill-prepared people fall through the cracks,” the judges panel added as part of its awards announcement.

We’d like to thank the FTA for recognizing our work, and all the people in and outside Revenue who helped make these projects possible.

Read the full projects' nominations on FTA’s website