Philadelphia Forward, an organization that counts "ethics reform, governmental integrity, and budget reform," among its mission points, has sent out its newsletter with a scathing indictment of Mayor Street's latest version of the city's 5-year financial plan. Among the charges:
During the past budget season, Council threatened to slash some of the Mayor's pet programs until the Mayor agreed to increase funding for agencies like Fairmount Park, the Free Library, and the Recreation Department. After the budget is passed, it is one of the powers reserved to the Mayor to determine how - or how not - to actually spend budgeted funds and now that the budget is passed, the Mayor has decided to simply ignore the wishes of City Council and not spend the additional money.
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Now, the Mayor will use the extra revenues from this year and additional projected revenues in the future to close the holes caused by his free spending.
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One more way the Mayor balances his Plan is to ask us to believe that something will happen in the future (when he is no longer Mayor) to close additional holes.
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The Plan's assumptions on the costs and revenues associated with the coming of casinos to Philadelphia are questionable and the Plan includes no funding for the work of recently established, voter-approved Commissions. Most important, it makes no provision for increased funding that will surely accompany new contracts for the city's unionized workforce next spring.
It's now in PICA's hands to determine whether this plan will be approved or if Mayor Street will have to rework it, yet again, to deliver the sobering, if realistic, fiscal situation facing the city.
Comments (1)
Walking while Black! What is Fatimah Ali worried about? Michael Nutter's Stop and Frisk plan is the best thing to happen to Philly since the cheese steak. Besides, Wendy and Dan as you Newspaper guru's have both pointed out it's going smashingly well in Pittsburgh and Kansas City. I think African-American's in this city are overreacting. There absolutely no way black youth will ever be racially profiled or for that matter killed by our outstanding police force. In Michael Nutter's words... "I am an outraged white man!" Well adjunct member (partly hispanic) of the white race anyway! How dare the the Daily News print this propaganda against Nutter Nation :(
Posted by Son of Anonymous | July 3, 2007 1:36 PM