During a meeting in his Cabinet Room with a small group of reporters, Nutter said he favored shifting the responsibility for setting property values to the city Finance Department.
He also wants to end an arrangement under which 80 BRT employees - half the tax board's staff - are on the school district's payroll, enabling them to circumvent policies governing city government workers, such as the requirement that they live in Philadelphia and a ban on political activity.
"Every employee should be held to the same standards," Nutter said.
He said he would also push to change the process under which city judges appoint the BRT's seven-member board. That practice has left the agency in the hands of political insiders influenced by party leaders such as U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, chairman of Philadelphia's Democratic Party, and former Democratic State Sen. Vincent Fumo, a convicted felon.
Instead, Nutter, citing property assessments as a vital city function, said the mayor's office should appoint tax board members.
While these proposals have not been incorporated into any specific bill, Nutter highlighted them as components necessary in any legislation he would support.
He said he hoped to work with City Council to approve legislation by the end of the calendar year that would call for a referendum enabling the changes to appear on next May's election ballot.
"There must be an urgency to this work," Nutter said. "Property owners must know any assessment they receive is being done by professionals" and by the "highest standards."
BRT Chairwoman Charlesretta Meade and acting chief assessor Barry Mescolotto did not respond to requests for comment yesterday. Common Pleas Court President Judge Pamela Pryor Dembe, who oversees the Common Pleas Court judges who appoint BRT board members, was on vacation.
