Mayor Nutter said today that he is hopeful that the city's annual professional bike race will still happen, even though organizers are short on cash.
According to a report in today's Inquirer, the organizers of the TD Bank Philadelphia Cycling Championship have only raised $1.2 million of the $1.7 million needed to put on the June 7 race. Some of the budget gap is due to a new city policy that requires event organizers to pay for city services like police and cleaning.
Nutter said the city is working with the organizers to come up with the money.
"We were actually somewhat surprised by the announcement today because we've been in regular contact with the main entities who are involved in the race," Nutter said. "We've been working with them to cut back on the overall costs of this just incredible event here in Philadelphia."
Nutter said there was still time to get this done. "There are a number of potential additional sponsors," he said. "It's Tuesday, they want to make a decision by next Monday, that's a lifetime in this business."
But Nutter stressed that the city – which is battling a budget crisis – can no longer cover costs they used to handle. "We started this policy, we're very serious about it," he said.