On WHYY this morning, Joel Rose reported that today was supposed to be the deadline set by the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority (PICA) for the City to submit a proposed, non-fantasyland version of the 5-year fiscal plan.
Rob Dubow, PICA's director, using his classic, understated style, says that there are "some real issues with [the current version of] this plan."
PICA has within its authority the power to hold back hundreds of millions of dollars in state funding if the City fails to comply with the requirement of turning in a realistic 5-year plan.
As an aside, I've read the plan before, actually several of the plans, and it seems like they've just been working off the 1991 5-year plan and making some changes to some numbers and graphs. All of the references to how "that new show Blossom is going to be awesome" were a dead giveaway.
To us Upper Darby natives, PICA('s) refers to an awesome pizza restaraunt on West Chester Pike (pronounced PEE-kah's), but to everyone else in the region, it's the agency, which very few people have heard of and that's going to drag the city, kicking and screaming, into fiscal responsibility this budget season.
When the executive director of that agency uses phrases like "substantial risks," "real issues," and "challenges," we should all start to get a little antsy. We'll see what the city delivers to PICA this week and keep you updated.
Comments (2)
While I hold this particular city administration in utter contempt and actively worked against their election twice, I'm even less impressed with left wing, lily-white suburbanites telling the city how to get things done. Nobody is ever going to confuse Upper Darby with Nirvana. Why not stick your condescending, elitist attitude where it belongs and fix your own backyard. People in glass houses, you know?
Posted by Anonymous | June 26, 2007 4:50 PM
The biggest challenge the city government faces is balancing the budget. At some point the BRT has to be allowed to reassess the property values in a fair logical process. This will help balance the 5 year plan and start the Nutter or Taulenberg governments on stable footing. Without an increase in government revenue the city govenment will have to reduce employees and reduce services. PICA should encourage BRT to get moving
Posted by Aloysius | June 27, 2007 11:07 AM