(1) The Council of the City of Philadelphia finds that:

(a) There are numerous vacant and abandoned properties throughout the City.

(b) The existence of vacant and abandoned properties within the City contributes to the deterioration of the City's viable real estate.

(c) Vacant and abandoned properties sometimes place a greater demand on essential City services such as police and fire protection and some services performed by the Departments of Licenses and Inspections and Health than do occupied properties comparably assessed for real estate tax purposes.

(d) The owners of vacant and abandoned properties do not always contribute a fair share of the costs of providing the foregoing essential City services financed in part by real estate tax revenues which revenues are solely based on the assessed value of properties.

(e) Some properties are deliberately left vacant by their owners in the hope that real estate values will increase thereby enabling such owners to sell these properties at a substantial profit without making any of the required repairs or improvements to the property.

(f) The non-utilization of property whether for profit speculation, tax benefit or any other purposes is the making use of that property and as such is a privilege incident to the ownership of the property.

(g) Owners of vacant properties must be encouraged to use said properties in a positive manner to stop the spread of deterioration and to increase the stock of viable real estate within the City.
(h) Owners of vacant and abandoned properties must be required, through the City's power to tax, to pay a fair share of the cost of providing certain essential City service.