In Philadelphia, Mayor Nutter is proposing to raise taxes for the second year in a row. No layoffs, furloughs, or major spending cuts are planned. In fact, the proposed city budget of almost $4 billion includes an increase in spending of $162 million.

Nutter has no plans to use the furlough provision he just negotiated with the police union. Instead, Nutter argues that the city must preserve all core services and jobs. (The city has eliminated about 800 jobs through attrition.)

Of the $33 million in spending cuts proposed by Nutter, the bulk of the trims involve the prison system. Granted, Nutter doesn't have complete control over all city spending. And a big chunk of the budget goes to salaries, health care, and pensions.

But other cities faced with brutal budget shortfalls have been much more aggressive about reducing the cost side of the ledger.

For example, Chicago faces a $520 million deficit on a budget of almost $6 billion. (By comparison, Philadelphia is looking to raise another $150 million on a budget of $3.87 billion.)

Chicago has already made deep cuts. Last year, Mayor Richard M. Daley laid off more than 1,500 employees, and the city unions accepted 24 unpaid furlough days.

Last month, Daley ordered a 6 percent cut in spending for every non-safety department. He is also negotiating with the city unions to restructure the pension plans. Daley says the recession is causing a restructuring of the entire city government.

In Dallas, the city manager recently asked most departments to prepare preliminary budgets that cut spending by 30 percent. The police and fire departments were asked for plans with 5 percent cuts. The budgets in Dallas include no salary increases for city employees and five furlough days for most workers.

Los Angeles has already laid off more than 500 employees and may shed as many as 4,000 jobs. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is pushing unionized workers, including police and firefighters, to take pay cuts of up to 15 percent. (In Philadelphia, Nutter recently negotiated a contract with the police union that provides 7 percent in raises over three years.)

Despite the budget woes, Los Angeles plans to cut taxes for Internet companies, which will cost the city $3.4 million in revenue. Officials said keeping the tax could have chased away some of the 300 Internet companies that employ 3,500 workers.

Phoenix just passed a budget that eliminates 520 jobs and cuts $64 million for parks, public transit, after-school programs, and the arts. The city is leasing police cars and offering $15,000 in incentives to buy foreclosed homes.

It is understandable that Nutter wants to avoid cuts in services and layoffs. But other cities are making those tough choices.

Rather than raise taxes to generate the $150 million Nutter is seeking, the city could close the budget gap by cutting spending by 3.9 percent.

The recession has forced many taxpayers to cut their household budgets to make ends meet. The city should also cut its spending before asking already overburdened taxpayers for more.