December 06, 2025
Thom Carroll/For PhillyVoice
Mayor Cherelle Parker's H.O.M.E. initiative won't get final approval until next year after City Council amended the budget. Both sides say their relationship remains strong.
Home repairs and new residential construction under Mayor Cherelle Parker's signature housing plan will be delayed until 2026 after City Council amended the budget legislation for the Housing Opportunities Made Easy initiative this week.
Council members broke with Parker, taking a step that they said will ensure Philadelphians most in need will be prioritized by the mayor's plan, which will spend $2 billion to address Philadelphia's housing crisis. The move marked a rare instance during the mayor's first term when her administration and council have been at odds.
City Council formally introduced the amended budget legislation for H.O.M.E. at Thursday's meeting. With only one council meeting scheduled before the end of the year, and Council President Kenyatta Johnson saying Thursday that he does not intend to schedule an additional meeting in December, the new ordinance will not be voted on until meetings resume in the new year.
The new bond ordinance again would authorize the city to issue $800 million in bonds to pay for H.O.M.E. The new ordinance is needed because of changes to the plan approved during Council's Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday. That resolution can be approved during Council's final meeting on Dec. 11, but City Council rules dictate the bond ordinance can't be voted on until the following meeting.
The new H.O.M.E. budget calls for spending approximately $277 million in the first year. That is $80 million more than previously allotted. The majority of that money will go to the city's Turn the Key program, which builds new houses on public lots for low-income, first-time homebuyers. It also invests additional funds in programs for affordable housing and home repairs. Those changes were significant enough that council needed to pass a new bond ordinance after originally approving one in June.
Despite the tensions that have surfaced between council and the mayor's office, Johnson said the conflict hasn't disrupted his working relationship with Parker.
"The mayor and I continue to have a great relationship, right? This is just part of the legislative process," Johnson said. "All of us support the H.O.M.E. plan, so we're just working out the logistics to make sure that it's executed in a veritable, equitable way, and so that's all this is about."
Mayor Cherelle Parker had expressed her disappointment about the delay on Tuesday, saying the changes mean bonds won't be issued until the end of March, at the earliest.
"To be clear, that means no shovels in the ground, and no homes repaired through the Basic Systems Repair program, which will run out of money in February," Parker said.
In response, Johnson issued a statement Wednesday saying that City Council was not meant to "rubber-stamp legislation" and that council's vote "strengthened the H.O.M.E. resolution, not sabotaged it." He also said claims that there wouldn't be enough funding for the repairs program were false.
"BSRP isn't going to run out of money, and I think anybody that does their own due diligence, first and foremost, recognizes that in the City of Philadelphia, we have a $7 billion budget, we have a $1.2 billion surplus, and we also have federal funding that comes that will provide additional support to the BSRP program, as well as Adaptive Modification Program," Johnson said.
City Council and the mayor have had a few contentious moments throughout the approval process for the H.O.M.E. plan. In November, the entities went toe-to-toe during a hearing in which council members called for more support to the city's lowest-income residents, whereas Parker's administration wanted to expand income qualifications. The new bond ordinance says the Council has the authority to set the Area Median Income qualifiers that determine eligibility for the plan's programs.
