Tuesday’s primary election offers a chance to not only vote for president, but also some consequential local races – where the primary is often more important than the general election.

The links below will help you get ready to cast your ballot. Pennsylvania is a closed primary – at least for now – which means that you have to be a registered Democrat or Republican to vote for candidates. Independents can still weigh in on this election’s ballot measure related to registered community organizations (RCOs).

West Philly races

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

District 10 – This one is competitive on the Democratic side, with three candidates vying for the seat. Incumbent Amen Brown (you may have heard his campaign truck driving around the neighborhoods over the weekend) is running against community organizers Sajda Blackwell and Cass Green. The same three candidates ran for the seat in 2022, with Brown beating Green by 183 votes.

Brown’s largest single contributor is the Students First PAC, which contributed $25,000 to Brown’s campaign. The PAC is closely connected to billionaire Jeffrey Yass, a longtime supporter of school vouchers and charter schools.

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West Philly residents have a chance to weigh in on the proposed city budget in an upcoming City Council Budget Townhall meeting hosted by Council President Kenyatta Johnson and Councilmember Jamie Gauthier. The meeting will take place on Monday, April 29 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at West Philadelphia High School (49th and Chestnut).

The series of Neighborhood Budget Townhalls kicked off last week in South Philadelphia with a goal to give residents and community leaders a chance to review and provide feedback on the City’s $6.29 Billion Fiscal Year 2025 (FY ’25) Operating Budget, proposed by Mayor Cherelle L. Parker on March 14.

The City Council’s last budget townhall series was held in 2016, so this is a great opportunity for residents to advocate for their budget priorities.

For more information about the proposed budget, visit: https://phlcouncil.com/budget2025.

Homeowners in Philadelphia may qualify to receive a real estate tax credit, but the program application period expires soon.

This year, the city conducted property value re-assessment. If your home’s property value goes up, you will see an increase in your real estate tax bill. A special fund was set up in collaboration with the FORWARD program to help people who own a home in Philadelphia to pay their real estate tax bill. If your bill has increased, you may qualify for a one-time credit (up to $500) that will be added to your real estate tax account located at the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Revenue.

The money will be used to pay your 2023 or 2024 tax bill or will be added to your City of Philadelphia Real Estate Tax Account as a credit for future tax years.

To apply for the tax credit, fill out an application on this page. Application deadline has been extended until January 31, 2024 at 5 p.m.

If you’re planning to use SEPTA during the holidays, please make sure to check modified schedules for Metro, bus and regional rail services.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

On Christmas Eve, Metro (SEPTA’s new name for the Market-Frankford, Broad Street and Norristown High Speed lines, and trolleys), buses and regional rail operate on a Sunday schedule.

On Christmas Day, Metro and bus routes will also operate on a Sunday schedule. The following bus routes are not operating on Christmas Day: 204, 310, 311 and LUCY.

All Regional Rail lines will run on special Christmas schedules with reduced Sunday service.

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Tomorrow is Election Day and here is some practical info to help you vote for Mayor, City Council, sheriff and judges – including the hotly contested race for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

A lot of information about the candidates for each office is out there. A good place to start is the Committee of 70’s voter guide, which allows you to look at a sample ballot and get info on all of the offices and candidates on your ballot. What you will find is candidates for Mayor, nine candidates for At-Large City Council seats (you choose up to five), candidates for your City Council District, Sheriff, Register of Wills, City Controller, three candidates for City Commissioner (you choose up to two) and a number of judicial candidates.

Each office in the guide has bipartisan information on each candidate and this year’s single ballot measure:

Should the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to create an Office for People with Disabilities to coordinate the City’s compliance with requirements to provide access for people with disabilities to City services and programs and to otherwise provide for incorporation of the Office into the City government?

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UPDATE (10/27/2023): Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 234, the union representing 5,000 Philadelphia-area transit workers, has reached a tentative agreement with SEPTA for a new one-year labor contract to expire in November 2024.

The tentative agreement reached today provides TWU members in the City, Frontier and Suburban Divisions of SEPTA with:

• Across the board wage increases
• Increases in pay for new and recently hired operators
• A signing bonus for all active union members
• Retention bonuses to incentivize employees eligible to retire to remain on the job for at least another year
• An increase in the pension for those that retire in the next year and a doubling of the long-neglected disability pension benefit.

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