Mayor steps up push for sputtering soda-tax proposal

Mayor Nutter's hopes for a soda tax to fund city schools seemed to be fading yesterday, as City Council considered schools aid that wouldn't require any new taxes.

With a hearing on Nutter's proposals for a soda tax or a property-tax hike set to resume this morning, some Council members yesterday appeared to favor providing the schools with between $35 million and $40 million through reducing the city's surplus-fund balance, city budget cuts and increasing fees on parking meters.

If approved, that would be a much smaller bailout than the $100 million requested by Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman for the district, which faces a $629 million funding gap in the fiscal year that starts July 1. Nutter yesterday launched a full-court press on Council to get support for a 2 cent per ounce soda tax, a revenue measure that he unsuccessfully lobbied for last year.

"Now is the time to stand up," said Nutter during a televised address on 6ABC Wednesday night. "Public education may be free for children, but the adults must pay for it."

Council President Anna Verna said last night, after Council leadership met with Nutter, that there still might be a chance for the soda tax.

"It's very apparent that nobody, including me, is in favor of a property tax," Verna said. "It seems as the [soda tax] is quite fluid. Nobody knows. People seem to be changing. There may still be some fizz."

But many Council members continued to openly question Ackerman's leadership and funding priorities.

"I'd like to see the leadership of the school district change before we give them any new money," Councilman Jim Kenney said. "I don't think the beleaguered taxpayer of the city should be paying for their mistakes."

Nutter frowned on Council's alternate plan, saying that any deal which cut the city's projected surplus fund balance, set at $51 million in the coming fiscal year, would require cuts to keep the city in the black.

Finance Director Rob Dubow said that a $30 million fund balance cut would force the cancellation of a planned police class and the layoff of 52 probation officers, among other cuts. He noted that reductions to the fund balance last year also halted plans for police classes and necessitated rolling brownouts of fire houses.

Time is running out for Council to decide how to act. They must pass a budget by June 30 or the city can't spend money. Currently their last session is scheduled for June 23, which means that they would have to come to a decision today.

If Nutter can't put together nine votes for soda, this will undoubtedly be viewed as a political loss for the mayor - and would mark the third year in a row that Council has rejected his tax proposals.