Philadelphia will consider more budget cuts

Another weak revenue report has persuaded the Nutter administration to proceed with a new round of budget cuts, hoping to trim more than $40 million from projected city spending over nine months.

Finance Director Rob Dubow said Friday most city departments would be given two or three weeks to propose spending reductions that will average about 2 percent. The Mayor's Office will decide what to cut, he said.

The Police and Fire Departments and the prison system will be exempt.

The current budget, approved by City Council for the fiscal year that began July 1, is based on a projection that revenue from various taxes will grow by $62 million, about 2.2 percent.

But revenue in July, August, and September fell $14.3 million, or 2.6 percent, according to preliminary figures compiled by the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, the budget oversight board the state established 20 years ago to monitor city finances.

If trends continued and the city did not cut spending, Dubow said, it would face a deficit nearing $47 million by the time the budget year ended on June 30.