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Thursday, November 5, 2009

Nutter gets out ahead of next year's budget crisis

Of course on one hand it's bad news that the Nutter administration feels compelled to ask all departments to cut their FY 2011 budgets by 7.5%. We know some city workers believe their departments have been cut to the bone as is, and some citizens are already feeling frustrated about service cuts. It's a bad situation.

On the other hand, though, it's good to see the administration thinking about this in advance. Mayor Nutter ran on a platform of better, more efficient governance -- the idea that the city could save money by being smarter was implicit in his argument. But his first budget had to be proposed just a couple of months into his first term (hardly enough time to rethink city government), and the economy crashed before he could propose his second one. Instead of thoughtful reform, the administration had to focus on making up $2 billion in a hurry.

The problem wasn't necessarily solved when they finished. Even before Budget Director Stephen Agostini said Wednesday that the economy "isn't turning around" like the city hoped, the stimulus was propping up municipalities around the country. There was reason for Nutter to think he'd return to the chopping (and taxing) block. But it wasn't clear that the mayor realized this, and we were worried that when the next budget rolled around, it would be all-hands-on-deck, no-time-for-reform, emergency measures all over again.

Instead, departments now have a few months to figure out how to do things the way Nutter initially suggested he'd do them: savvily. Will it be pleasant? Oh, definitely not. But at least there's a little bit of time to think.

Review city services on our sister site, City Howl.
Posted by Doron Taussig @ 9:23 AM  Permalink | 3 comments
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:01 AM, 11/05/2009
    Next step Septa problems: Change like Police and Firefighters mandatory bargining. Septa's union members are at will employees at this point, no contract, they are like everyone else. The State can takeover Septa or Septa can declare bankruptcy and restructure. Why do you need a union in this day and age, OSHA is for work rules and EEOC is for wage/discrimination disputes, you are paying union dues for what. As long as they are paid with State and Federal funds, they can be let go.
    — concerns25
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 6:55 PM, 11/05/2009
    concerns25 you are cracking me up. SEPTA is under "State Control". Try and know what you are talking about before you post please.
    — gfunkerror


3 comments
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