PICA approves Nutter's 5-year plan

THE CITY'S financial-oversight board yesterday approved Mayor Nutter's five-year plan in a 5-0 vote.

The Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, which is made up of four appointees from the state General Assembly and one from the governor, voted unanimously to approve the plan, which it must pass for the city to continue receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in state aid.

The board last year expressed concern about dangerously low fund balances projected several years down the road and about the administration's unsettled labor disputes with municipal unions.

Since then, revenue outlooks have improved, increasing the fund balances, and Nutter has reached a long-term contract with the city's white-collar union.

It was the first vote on the plan by Lawrence Tabas, whom Gov. Corbett recently tapped after chairman Sam Katz resigned earlier this year.

Tabas is general counsel for the state Republican Party and a partner at Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel law firm. He has run unsuccessfully for city controller, City Council and state representative.

The board postponed a vote on who will replace Katz as chairman. As the gubernatorial appointee, Tabas is in the running.

Board member Michael Karp, who was appointed by state House Democrats, is also eyeing the job.