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Monday, November 9, 2009

City On Track to End Year $31 Million in Red

The city is on track to end the fiscal year $31 million in the hole, Budget Director Steve Agostini told City Council members during a briefing today.

Agostini attributed the downturn to a number of factors, including a decline in the city's expected wage tax revenues and a loss of state funding for social services and police. The overall deterioration was offset somewhat by better than expected revenues for the business privilege tax and the real estate transfer tax.

The budget office has already asked city departments to look for ways to cut 7.5 percent from their budgets for FY11. Agostini said some cuts may start during this fiscal year, but he did not detail what form they would take. He stressed that the city is closely reviewing every hire and expenditure to try and find savings.

Clay Armbrister, the mayor's chief of staff, stressed that the city still has financial pain ahead despite a turbulant year of budget cuts and tax hikes.

"We're not out of the woods by any means," Armbrister said.
Posted by Catherine Lucey @ 3:41 PM  Permalink | 36 comments
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:10 PM, 11/09/2009
    The City is going to be forced into some of those "dooms day" cuts even w/ the 1% tax increase. & Lets face it, there is definitely fat to be cut. You cant maintain the same employee levels of decades past when you've lost so much population & GOOD tax base in that same time. The #'s just don’t add up.
    — Kennedy
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:13 PM, 11/09/2009
    If they are going to cut jobs, leave the police and firefighters alone. Get rid of the city workers who just answer phones. How many of those are really needed? If my house catches on fire or I'm robbed, will they come and help? NO! Get rid of them.
    — lisa2604
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:28 PM, 11/09/2009
    Raises and signing bonuses for everyone!!!
    — toph314
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:38 PM, 11/09/2009
    Come on everyone. This is Philadelphia; "City of Brotherly Love". We've got to pass around the wealth (what little left we have) to the brothas and sistas. The worst that could happen is the city goes bankrupt and it's not like we have not been there. We will just get bailed out by selling bonds and raising taxes, just like any other city-all this made possible by the idiots we reelect and put in office for eternity because they lie and make us feel good. LMAO
    — diplomatt8
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:45 PM, 11/09/2009
    I hate when people say that Nutter is a one term mayor. He inherited this fiscal disaster from John the crook Street.
    — joeygrl
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:46 PM, 11/09/2009
    Kennedy: exactly. There are way too many welfare families and city employees, and not nearly enough working families, in Philadelphia. Something has to give.
    — chrissmith
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:48 PM, 11/09/2009
    Dear Ron Paul guy, I bet the Congressman from TX is probably tired of you using his name to beat the same stupid off-topic racist point into the ground. Maybe you check in.
    — seand
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:49 PM, 11/09/2009
    I don,t know how anyone can afford to live in the city. You have to be nuts to put up with what goes on here. I am a life long democrat and I can tell you they have destroyed whatever good there ever was here.
    — ziller0604
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:53 PM, 11/09/2009
    Can you say Detroitadelphia? That's how it started. One-party rule and looting of the city coffers.
    — pj katauskas
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:56 PM, 11/09/2009
    Actually, Joeygrl - Nutter inherited a surplus. He wasted it. He was elected to cut waste and corruption. And yet, even with a recession in the background, he still has not shrunk our city government, cut waste, or done anything about the corrupt way of doing business in the city. It's hard enough to change this city's entrenched status quo, but the recession makes it a little easier - due to the heightened need to cut spending. Nutter has done nothing! We need to stop electing democrats already. Lack of serious competition = complacency, laziness, and corruption.
    — philly57


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About The Philly Clout Team
PhillyClout
Chris Brennan, a native Philadelphian and graduate of Temple University, joined the Daily News in 1999. He has written about SEPTA, the Philadelphia School District, the legalization of casino gambling, state government, the mayor, the governor, City Council and political campaigns.
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics ­– which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Catherine Lucey joined the Daily News in 2002 and has written about murderous drug gangs, political protesters and Harry Potter. After covering the 2007 mayoral election, she moved over to the City Hall bureau where she has been reporting on the Nutter administration.
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans.
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Catherine Lucey
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