Authorizing the Committee of the Whole to hold public hearings to assess the potential establishment of an independent fiscal oversight agency to perform independent fiscal audits of The School District of Philadelphia's annual budget.

Authorizing the Committee of the Whole to hold public hearings to assess the potential establishment of an independent fiscal oversight agency to perform independent fiscal audits of The School District of Philadelphia’s annual budget. WHERAS, The Philadelphia School District is the largest school district in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, serving over 100,000 students and manages a budget of approximately 4.6 billion for Fiscal Year 2026; and WHEREAS, The School District of Philadelphia’s budget is funded through a combination of local, state, and federal sources, including significant contributions derived from taxes levied within the City of Philadelphia; and WHEREAS, Local tax revenues dedicated in whole or in part to the School District of Philadelphia include, but are not limited to Real Estate Tax, Use and Occupancy Tax, Liquor-by-the-Drink Tax, School Income Tax, Sales and Use Tax, Cigarette Tax, and the Reality Transfer Tax. Additional contributions from non-direct tax revenue amounted to over $61 Million in Fiscal Year 2025; and WHEREAS, In May of 2016, the Pennsylvania Auditor General, Eugene DePasquale, released a performance audit identifying critical structural challenges within the School District of Philadelphia, including an unsustainable funding model characterized by near-total reliance on federal, state, and City revenues, resulting in a persistent structural deficit that threatened the District’s ability to fulfill its core educational mission; and WHE…