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PHILADELPHIA
HOME RULE CHARTER

ANNOTATED
City Seal

Adopted by the Electors
April 17, 1951

PREFACE

This annotated edition of the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter, adopted by the electors of the City of Philadelphia on April 17, 1951, has been prepared and published primarily as an aid to the officials and employees of the City who are charged with carrying out its provisions. It is also intended as a guide to a better understanding of the Charter for the residents of the City and others who will be concerned with and interested in it.

Following each section of the Charter are statements of "Sources" and "Purposes". "Sources" is generally used in the very broad sense of statutory provisions, ordinances, model provisions, and provisions from Charters of other cities which suggested the idea from which the section of the Charter was derived. At times "Sources" indicates that the language closely parallels language from a source provision. Under "Purposes" it is sought to state the intention of the section, its effect, and its relationship to other Charter provisions.

The publication of this annotated edition was authorized by a resolution of the Charter Commission. It was prepared by the Legislative Draftsman of the Charter Commission under the direction of the Commission's Drafting Committee. The index was prepared by the Bureau of Municipal Research, as a public service.

DRAFTING COMMITTEE

This first reprint of the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter includes a new Article XII, titled "Public Education", which contains provisions pertaining to the administration, financing and management of the City's public school system. The new Article XII was drafted by the Educational Home Rule Charter Commission convened pursuant to the Act of August 9, 1963, P.L. 643, by which the general Assembly eliminated a previous statutory restriction forbidding a Home Rule Charter from containing provisions regulating public schools. The Act of August 9, 1963 also permitted any city of the first class to add to an existing Home Rule Charter sections pertaining to the operation of public schools. The "Proposed Supplement to the Home Rule Charter" drafted by the Educational Home Rule Charter Commission was approved by the electors on May 18, 1965, thereby creating a Home Rule School District for the City of Philadelphia. On May 16, 1967, the electors approved an amendment to Section 12-306 of the Home Rule Charter Educational Supplement, relating to indebtedness, which raised the ceiling on the aggregate indebtedness permitted to be incurred from the original figure of 2% to a new limit of 5% of the assessed value of the taxable property within the District. The Amendment also prohibited the aggregate indebtedness of the District from exceeding 15% of the last valuation of property taxable for school purposes in the District, up from the original figure of 5%.

LAW DEPARTMENT

PREAMBLE

Grateful to God for the freedoms we enjoy, and desirous of establishing a form of improved municipal self-government in which all qualified citizens may participate equally without any distinction based on race, color, religion or national origin, we, the electors of Philadelphia, hereby adopt this "Philadelphia Home Rule Charter," prepared by the Philadelphia Charter Commission under authority of the Act of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, approved April 21, 1949, P. L. 665.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Article I.
POWERS of THE CITY

Article II.
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH - The Council
It's Election, Organization, Powers and Duties

The Council | Councilmanic Procedure | Legislation | Councilmanic Inquiries and Investigations

Article III.
EXECUTIVE and ADMINISTRATIVE BRANCH - Organization

Officers, Departments, Boards, Commissions and Other Agencies | Election or Appointment | Qualifications | Terms of Office | Vacancies | Compensation | Bureaus and Divisions; Deputies; Other Employees | Independent Boards and Commissions | Departmental Boards and Commissions | Nominating Panels

Article IV.
EXECUTIVE and ADMINISTRATIVE BRANCH - Powers and Duties
The Mayor, the City Representative and Departments, Boards and Commissions under the Mayor

The Mayor | City Representative | Administrative Board | Law Dept. | Dept. of Commerce and Its Board | City Planning Commission | Commission on Human Relations | Board of Trustees of the Free Library of Philadelphia

Article V.
EXECUTIVE and ADMINISTRATIVE BRANCH - Powers and Duties
Managing Director and Departments, Boards and Commissions under his Supervision

Managing Director | Police Dept. | Dept. of Public Health and Its Boards | Fire Dept. | Dept. of Streets and Its Board | Dept. of Recreation and Its Boards and Commission | Dept. of Public Welfare and Its Boards | Water Dept. | Dept. of Public Property and Its Commissions | Dept. of Licenses and Inspections and Its Boards | Dept. of Records

Article VI.
EXECUTIVE and ADMINISTRATIVE BRANCH - Powers and Duties
Director of Finance, Financial Departments, Boards and Commissions, City Treasurer, Procurement Department, and Board of Pensions and Retirement

Director of Finance | Dept. of Collections and Its Boards and Commission | City Treasurer | Auditing Dept. | Procurement Dept. | Board of Pensions and Retirement

Article VII.
EXECUTIVE and ADMINISTRATIVE BRANCH - POWERS and DUTIES
Personnel Director and Civil Service Commission and the Civil Service

The Personnel Director | Civil Service Commission | Civil Service: General Provisions and Exemptions | Civil Service: Regulations

Article VIII.
PROVISIONS of GENERAL APPLICATION

Fiscal and Budgetary Matters | Contracts, Procurement, Property and Records | Legislative and Executive Officeholders and Employees | Executive and Administrative Branch

Article IX.
REMOVAL of ELECTIVE and APPOINTIVE OFFICERS

Recall of Mayor and Other Elective Officers | Removal of Appointive Officers

Article X.
PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES OF COUNCILMEN, CITY OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES and OTHERS, and PENALTIES

Article XI.
SEVERABILITY and ACTS SUPERSEDED

Article XII.
PUBLIC EDUCATION
Home Rule School District and Board of Education - Creation Powers and Duties

The Home Rule School District | The Board of Education | The Board of Education; Powers and Duties | The Superintendent of Schools; Duties and Powers | General Policy; Severability; Repealer; Effective Date

APPENDIX

INDEX


PHILADELPHIA CHARTER COMMISSION

Frederic D. Garman, Chairman
Lewis M. Stevens, Secretary
Joseph F. Burke
Robert J. Callaghan
Clarence K. Crossan
Tanner G. Duckery
Abraham L. Freedman
Helen E. Heydrick
Ralph Kelly
Fredric R. Mann
Robert T. McCracken
Herbert E. Millen
Thomas B. K. Ringe
William A. Schnader
Robert C. White

STAFF
Charlton F. Chute, Consultant
Paul A. Wolkin, Legislative Draftsman
Edgar B. Cale, Executive Secretary

END OF TABLE OF CONTENTS