Issues remain before Mummers step off on Friday

The Mummers will strut up Broad Street on Friday.

And the City of Philadelphia says it will charge them about $150,000, roughly half what it proposed last year.

On those two items, the two sides agree.

There are, however, a few sticking points that have left the city and the Mummers without a signed agreement for this year's parade.

George Badey, a member of the Fralinger String Band and head of Save the Mummers, is demanding that the city provide a written, detailed accounting of the bill it will present to the group for police, cleanup, and other charges associated with the parade.

"If you're going to ask us to pay . . . show us what you're spending it on," Badey said.

He also wants the city to let the Mummers see agreements that organizers of other events signed with the city so they can be sure they are being treated equally.

Deputy Mayor Everett Gillison said the Mummers would get answers.

"We resolved most of the issues at this point, and we're just waiting for the last little details to be worked out," he said.

The city, beset by budget problems, last year began charging organizers of parades and other events for their cost to the city. The decision left organizers of the Mummers Parade, the St. Patrick's Day Parade, and other events scrambling for funds.

Last year, the city estimated its costs for the Mummers Parade at about $300,000, though the group paid almost none of that after the city decided to give them more time to cope with the new policy.

This year, Philadelphia is charging just under $150,000, Gillison said. Most of the difference will come from reassigning some police already on duty Jan. 1 to the parade and from charging the Mummers only for the costs of additional officers instead of for all those assigned to the event, he said.

"It significantly cuts the amount of money that they have to pay, but it doesn't compromise public safety one iota," he said.

Fund-raising efforts by U.S. Rep. Bob Brady (D., Pa.) and City Councilmen James F. Kenney and Frank DiCicco have brought in over $100,000, which should leave the Mummers $40,000 to $50,000 to pay to the city, Gillison said. Badey said he was confident the group would be able to pay that and urged visitors to buy "Mummerabilia" or make donations at www.savethemummers.com.

Badey's questions about costs and accounting are similar to ones raised by backers of the city's six ethnic parades. City Councilwoman Maria Quiñones Sánchez postponed hearings in December on that subject, but is expected to hold hearings once Council returns from its break. She wants the city to account for and explain how it charges parade organizers to find ways to reduce expenses and allow all the parades to continue.