Don't worry Philly taxpayers, the World Meeting of Families has you covered

CITY TAXPAYERS won't get stuck with the bill at the end of the pope festivities.

That's because the World Meeting of Families has agreed to cover all event costs to the tune of roughly $12 million, including an estimated $5 million for traffic, crowd control, security and emergency response to be provided by the Philadelphia Police Department.

The $12 million is based on city estimates, which are detailed in a written contract, made public Monday night, between the city and the World Meeting of Families.

"They're estimates. That's all they are," said Everett Gillison, deputy mayor for public safety. "All the contract says is that these are the estimates that we believe are reasonable at this time and we go forward from there. . . . It can go higher or lower. We're pretty conservative, so most of the time we always over-shoot."

World Meeting leaders hope to fundraise $45 million for the weeklong event. The eighth World Meeting of Families Congress is expected to draw 17,500 attendees to the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The crowd for the papal events, including the "Festival of Families" on Saturday and the papal Mass on Sunday, is expected to swell to 350,000, according to the contract.

The World Meeting of Families is obligated, under the contract, to pay $230,000 in license fees for use of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and other city locations. The nonprofit also must provide the city with a $2.5 million security deposit, the contract says.

The World Meeting is also responsible for insurance, including a minimum of $20 million to cover an act of terrorism and a $1 million limit for "Specialty Crime/Kidnap, Random and Extortion Insurance," the contract says.

Other estimated costs include:

* More than $4 million to the city Fire Department for fire prevention, emergency response and emergency medical services. That figure includes a plan for the department's Emergency Medical Services division to set up and operate four 50-bed medical stations and six 25-bed first-aid stations within the secure and outer security zones.

* About $845,000 to the Streets Department for lighting, highway, sanitation services and cleanup after the papal events.

* More than $96,000 to the Water Department to ensure safe drinking water, sewer and stormwater services

* Roughly $246,000 to Fleet Management for five pickup trucks equipped with fuel dispensers and service vehicles, including city-owned dump trucks, trash compactors and street sweepers.

Under the contract, the city must provide the World Meeting of Families with a detailed invoice for all costs and expenses by Nov. 1. The nonprofit must reimburse the city by Nov. 30.

In other Pope Week news, Philadelphia Parking Authority deputy executive director Richard Dickson said yesterday that the number of cars towed since Sunday evening stands at 216. Towing in restricted areas will continue throughout the week.

Meanwhile, Police Department spokeswoman Tanya Little said, "It's been calm," and no arrests have been made related to the World Meeting of Families.

Mayor Nutter's spokesman, Mark McDonald, said the city has not computed how much it will cost taxpayers to have thousands of city employees off from work tomorrow, Friday and Monday because their offices are closed. "That is not a calculation that we have done," McDonald said, asserting that the work stoppage was analogous to a large snowstorm.

-Staff Writer Mensah M. Dean

contributed to this report.

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