Nutter budget interview on WHYY

Mayor Nutter gave a one-hour interview to Marty Moss-Coane on the city's budget crisis and the WHYY sponsored budget workshops this morning. You can listen to it here.

It's an interesting interview. It's clear that Nutter was surprised by how willing workshop attendees were to accept tax hikes as a way to close the city's second $1 billion five-year budget deficit. He sounded unwilling to consider increases in the wage tax, but he signaled an openess to raise other levvies.

"We're looking at everything. It has to be a combination that is done in a way that again enhances the long term prospects of the city. We have to be very, very careful that we don't take a short term action that may in the near term generate more dollars but can have a long term disastrous impact on the overall economy," Nutter said in the interview.

Nutter also made it clear that, despite the fact he has not discussed it publicly all that much, he is nevertheless intensely focued on reducing the city's pension and health care costs.

"I am very, very focused on, I mean, there might not have been a budget workshop or PhillyStat session about this. There's not a whole lot to talk about. But I want your listeners to at least know I am very focused in this particular area," Nutter said.

Health care and pension benefits are of course subject to negotiation/arbitration with the city's four municipal unions.

Tomorrow afternoon, Nutter and council will be briefed on the workshop results by Harris Sokoloff of the Penn Center for Civic Engagement, which organized the events.

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