In an effort to aid lower-income residents who may become displaced by new development, advocacy groups have called for developers to pay a "housing impact fee" to coincide with any new buildings.

The proposal recommends charging developers $1.10 to $4.84/SF of new market-rate houses and rental units, which would go into the Housing Trust Fund for building and renovating affordable housing, according to NewsWorks.

The proposal comes backed by a study from the Philadelphia Coalition for Affordable Communities that claims it would generate $3.4M to $12.2M for the fund, perhaps at the cost of deterring potential developers, who are already dissatisfied with Philadelphia's tax code.

Last year, the Housing Trust Fund took in $11.7M from taxes on new home purchases and inheritances, a figure agreed upon by both sides as insufficient. The viability of this new fee remains in question, however. [NW]