Heard in the Hall

The new budget season has officially begun in City Hall.

Various commissioners, as requested by the Nutter administration, are busy compiling memos that detail how they can make their departments more efficient - and trim spending by 3 to 5 percent.

"The point of this was not for them to come back and say 'here is how we are cutting,'" said Finance Director Rob Dubow, "but 'here’s how we can improve things.'"

Some of the memos have already reached his desk, with "some interersting ideas of how to reorganize, how to run things better."

Dubow, though, wouldn't yet say what those ideas are.

To put a finer point on it, Chief of Staff Clay Armbrister said, "I don't view this as a mandate to cut their budgets, and we made it clear we are not looking at any reductions in services."

What are they seeking? "Innovate ways they can do things more efficiently."

Ever wonder how many people want to be a Philadelphia police officer?

Well, in the last go-round, some 15,000 people applied to the police academy - for some 120 spots.

Not into the uniform? Well, it turns out that other city jobs are in demand, too... Of course, it could just be that any job is in demand.

Whatever the case, here are the numbers: In fiscal 2007, the city received 25,841 applications for jobs. Out of that, 11,303 people took and passed the civil service test. Out of that, 2,146 were hired or promoted.

The source of all this: A new study released today by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia. The study's title: "Philadelphia's Quiet Crisis: The rising Cost of Employee Benefits."

And why not? More money for the city's schools, more money for Philly cops. It's a Philly friendly budget. Nutter's release on the state budget is after the jump. Not that all elected Philadelphia officials are pleased. As one commenter pointed out (at length), State Rep. John Perzel thinks 100 new cops doesn't go near far enough. As reported by the Inquirer today, Perzel wants 10,000 more statewide, a plan that's been stymied by Harrisburg Dems for a long while.

Mayor Nutter, who once pledged he will be no stranger to Harrisburg, made good on his promise today, dropping in on Gov. Rendell’s hour-long budget address to the legislature.

Here's the down-and-dirty from Inquirer Harrisburg reporter Angela Couloumbis:

Nutter emerged from the legislature’s chambers saying he believed that the guv’s $28 billion spending plan bodes well not just for the city, but for the state as a whole.

“I think a lot of the issues the governor talked about are not only pertinent to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and Allentown and Reading, but they are pertinent to the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Nutter said. “Investing in education is not just an urban or metropolitan issue, it’s a Pennsylvania issue. Making cities in Pennsylvania and municipalities safe is not just a localized issue, it’s a state-wide issue. Energy independence, economic development and creating jobs, these are big Pennsylvania issues.”

Of course, Rendell in his budget is also kind to his hometown -- which Nutter was quick to point out. Among the most talked-about assists for the city: proposed state funding for 100 extra police officers for Philadelphia’s Police Department, and a more than $85 million increase in basic education funding for the Philadelphia School District.

But buried a bit deeper in the budget are a few more extras for the Philly area: a 4.5 percent funding bump for Philadelphia’s municipal court and an almost 9 percent increase for the city’s Traffic Court; a small bump in funding for the Drug Strike Task Force (that’s the Philadelphia regional office of the Attorney General’s Bureau of Narcotics Investigation); small increases for Temple and Lincoln Universities. Funding for the African American Museum, Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania and the University of Pennsylvania Museum were maintained at last year’s levels – no small feat in this tight budget cycle.

The one area that is taking a hit: public television: Eight television stations make up the Public Television Network, including two in Philadelphia. Funding this year is proposed for $4 million, down from $4.7 million in the current budget.

Mayor Nutter will present his first budget to City Council shortly after 10 a.m. today. It's going to feature tax cuts, investment in police, fire and education, and trims in other departments to help pay for those investments. Oh, and a likely increase in the city's parking tax. Get the full details here.

Ok, we've got a closer look at the city's proposed FY 09 budget for you right here. It's an intriguing package, that's for sure. The most interesting and risky element appears to be the plan to issue a $4.5 billion bond to get a handle on the city's massive pension funding problem, which we detail here. Today's Inquirer also takes a look at what the budget will do for the Community College of Philadelphia, which was among the big winners. An 09 budget brief is available for your own perusal on the city's website, as is the more comprehensive five year plan, which you can find here.

It was the hallmark of former City Councilman David Cohen’s career - and Mayor Nutter wants it gone.

Two years before Cohen’s death in 2005 at age 90, Council’s liberal lion rammed through a wage-tax cut for the working poor.

But in the long-term spending plan that Nutter unveiled yesterday, he calls for the elimination of the “David Cohen tax cut” - five years before it is even set to begin.

Nutter’s rationale is that he’s backing plenty of other tax cuts that “will substantially benefit low-income residents and employees of Philadelphia firms.”

“It’s a shame,” said Councilman William Greenlee, Cohen’s successor and longtime chief of staff. “The city is really giving an advantage to people who need the help the most,” he said.

At the same time, Greenlee said he was hardly surprised by Nutter’s plan since Mayor Street was also an ardent opponent of the tax cut, saying it was too expensive. (As it stands now, it will cost the city $16 million in 2013, in its first year, and $28 million in 2014. After that it keeps climbing.)

One difference: Nutter favored the cut, even voting with his former Council colleagues to override Street’s veto of it.

So will Council’s support of the Cohen tax cut soften when Nutter comes knocking at their door?

Councilman W. Wilson Goode Jr., who in 2006 said he couldn’t ever see himself supporting its repeal, didn’t return a call for comment.

Another staunch defender of the cut, Councilman Jim Kenney, said he had an open mind, especially given the “substantial” tax cuts in Nutter’s spending plan.

But that’s not what Kenney when Street last sought a repeal, three months after Cohen’s death. “This is a personal dismantling of a colleague’s legacy,” he said then, “and it’s smacking David Cohen in the grave.”

So, you think Mayor Nutter is blowing it by cutting taxes too fast? Not fast enough? You're sure City Council's spending priorities are out of whack, and that instead they ought to invest in libraries, or the park system, or rec centers, or the schools?

Do you think, in short, that you could do better?

Late this summer, you'll get the chance to prove it. In August, the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia hopes to launch an interactive city budget simulation that will let citizens fund their pet projects to their hearts' content: so long as they make it up by slashing services elsewhere.

The idea is to give residents a dose of fiscal reality, as well as an understanding of the hard choices Nutter and City Council face.

The project will be funded by a $100,000 grant from the Lenfest Foundation. The Inquirer's Great Expectations project is a partner.