A Tiny Little Ray of Budget Sunshine

It's a tiny drop in a very big bucket - $3.2 million in a $4 billion budget - but two months into the new fiscal year the city's wage tax collections are beating last year's figures by 1.24 percent. Given the economy, that's good news, particularly since the wage tax rate was cut slightly from last year. Indeed, city budget officials projected a three percent DROP in wage tax collections this fiscal year, not an increase.

Still, it's

too early to get excited. Finance Director Rob Dubow says the city will have to wait until the first quarter is up to begin to get a real handle on how well revenue is holding up. And, no, this tiny ray of budget sunshine won't stop the administration's plan to trim the expenses of some city departments by as much as 10 percent.

» READ MORE: Click here

for Philly.com's politics page.