Suddenly, city budget gap doubles to $2B
Mayor Nutter will announce today that the city's budget hole has widened to $2 billion over the next five years, according to people familiar with city finances.
Mayor Nutter will announce today that the city's budget hole has widened to $2 billion over the next five years, according to people familiar with city finances.
In November, Nutter projected a $1 billion gap over the five-year fiscal plan and announced cuts to rebalance the city's finances. Since then, the gap has widened by another $1.02 billion, sources tell the Daily News.
City Controller Alan Butkovitz called the possibility of a $2 billion deficit in the five-year plan a "shocking" development that might mean that the mayor will have to consider raising taxes.
"That's the kind of thing that would necessitate the equivalent of 10 or 15 percent cuts across the board in every department, including police and fire, which would be staggering and is not tolerable," Butkovitz said. "We still have a crime crisis in Philadelphia. I don't think anyone is seriously suggesting that we can afford to have a lower level of police manpower."
The city's annual budget is about $4 billion - more than half of which is tied to fixed expenses.
Nutter's original cuts included laying off city workers, delaying tax reductions and closing libraries and fire companies. He is not expected to announce new cuts today.
Instead, Nutter - who drew intense criticism for the library and Fire Department cuts - will unveil a plan to seek more public input before putting out the next annual budget. Nutter has said that the public-engagement effort will be unlike anything seen in Philly before.
Still, Nutter is initially revealing the budget information to a small group.
At 9:30 this morning, Nutter will disclose the city's financial details to his administration's deputy mayors, commissioners and department heads. Reporters also will be allowed to attend.
Activists opposed to Nutter's budget cuts, who successfully stalled the plan to close library branches last month, will not be able to attend.
Opponents of the mayor's plan to close 11 libraries heckled Nutter at a Dec. 30 news conference, where he spoke of converting those library branches to "knowledge centers" run by nonprodfit organizations, schools and other agencies. *
