As the City prepares for 'Plan C,' more cuts are being made to compensate for money lost since the bill to raise the sales tax remains stagnant.
Councilmen Bill Green, right, and Curtis Jones Jr., left, stood behind Mayor Michael Nutter when he asked for support from the state Senate Monday (Staff Photo by Greg Bezanis).
Aug. 15 has passed. Now the City must prepare for the worst and revise its five-year plan as the General Assembly as of press time has yet to approve the measures needed to keep Philadelphia's books balanced through 2014.
'Plan C' includes the layoff of 3,000 City employees, including nearly 1,000 police officers and 200 fire department employees. Rec centers, libraries, Fairmount Park, the Commerce Department and the City Planning Commission would cease operations. Two health centers would close and trash pickup would be reduced to twice a month.
"I can't stand 'Plan C,' Mayor Michael Nutter said Monday at a press conference at City Hall. "It's nothing that a city -- that any city -- should have to go through, but it's certainly not anything the city of Philadelphia -- the birthplace of liberty, freedom and democracy -- should ever have to experience."
Not only does the City have to get the wheels moving on Plan C, which Nutter planned to release more details about later this week, but it will continue to lose $10 million each month from revenue expected from the extra 1 percent sales tax hike. It will take about four weeks to implement, resulting in the loss of funds from August and September of $20 million so far, Nutter announced Monday.
To make up for that shortfall, cuts such as delaying the fall police cadet class; reducing the hours of the 311 non-emergency call center; stopping the purchase of new vehicles with the exception of replacing police cars; and cutting positions from various departments including the mayor's office, finance, commerce and planning commission will occur.
"We are committed to working day and night, night and day to provide whatever information and assurances necessary to the members of the Senate to pass this legislation as quickly as possible," Nutter said. "We cannot afford to wait any longer. We cannot afford any further delay."
The Senate Finance Committee addressed House Bill 1828, which was passed in the House Aug. 5, at a 10 a.m. hearing yesterday where City Finance Director Rob Dubow testified.
The bill that includes the needed sales tax increase and the ability to defer pension payments could be voted on in committee on Monday and go to the Senate floor as soon as Wednesday, according to an Aug. 10 press release by Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi.
"House Bill 1828 is complex legislation and it is interrelated to both the state budget and to requests for fiscal relief from many other counties," he said, adding some senators are currently preparing amendments.
Nutter urged senators to not make amendments and instead use additional legislation to address any issues. This would avoid the scenario Nutter compared to the video game Pong.
"We'll just go back and forth, back and forth between the House and the Senate in an unending fashion," Nutter said. "The quickest way to get House Bill 1828 passed and enacted on the governor's desk is to pass it with no amendments. Where the Senate would do that, it would immediately go to the governor's desk and we know that he would sign it."
Of the 10 largest U.S. cities, Philadelphia is ranked as the poorest. It also has the highest rate of obesity among the nation’s largest cities, according to the city’s Deputy Mayor for Health and Opportunity and Health Commissioner Don Schwartz.
Before Mayor Michael Nutter took the stage, the few hundred who gathered at City Hall's courtyard last week chanted "No budget cuts." "I agree with you," he shouted back.
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