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Thursday, February 22, 2007
Mayor Street's FY-2008 Budget Address to City Council
Good Morning President Verna, members of City Council, members of my Cabinet and Administration, special friends and guests.
I am here today to present for your consideration my proposed FY 08 operating budget, my proposed capital budget and program along with my proposed 5 year financial plan for FY 08 through 12.
I began my career in public service in 1980 here in these ornate Chambers as the 5th district councilman. And now here in this special place, 27 years later, I will report to you for the eighth and final time as Mayor of our City.
Let me first say "thank you" to the citizens of Philadelphia for providing me the opportunity to serve. Your spirit, your ideas and your involvement have been a constant source of motivation and inspiration.
Next I thank you, the members of City Council, and particularly those men and women with whom I served for over 19 years. We share a lifetime of special moments as we serve the people of our city. Let us pay a moment of respect for our colleagues: Council members David Cohen and Thacher Longstreth, who honored our City with their service.
And I welcome the new members of this Council as I look forward to working with you in the final year of this term.
Philadelphia has balanced its budget for 15 consecutive years. We have had an unprecedented 13 years of tax reduction. By the end of the current Five Year Plan, we will have reduced taxes by 3.3 billion dollars.
We must maintain an aggressive tax reduction program without compromising our investment in our economy, Center City, our neighborhoods, our families and our schools.
Our city has become a national leader in many ways -- officials from cities like Baltimore, Boston and Seattle have visited our city to see the results of our Neighborhood Transformation Initiative; our homeless program has been cited by the White House and admired by cities like San Francisco and Atlanta; people from all over the world have come to learn about Wireless Philadelphia enhancing our national and international reputation for cutting edge technology; our emergency preparedness planning is a national model, as is our children's agenda, including our annual Children's Report Card and Children's Budget, our after-school and beacon programs and the wealth of activities to protect the wellbeing of children.
The Operating Budget and Five Year Financial Plan I present to you today allows us to sustain our momentum and achieve important objectives while exercising the discipline needed to maintain the city's fiscal health.
Our plan is built on an FY 06 certified fund balance of 254 million, sound fiscal management, disciplined spending and careful planning. But the Budget and the Plan also recognize that future costs and risks will surely consume that balance-and then some.
Our financial plan provides for unprecedented investments in public safety. The Five Year Financial Plan contains $2.55 Billion in funding for our Police Department, which will provide the tools needed to fight crime effectively.
This Budget and Five Year Plan includes funding for hiring the 200 new police officers authorized last year. The first class of those officers will hit the streets on March 12th; followed by the second class on June 15th.
Thanks to our investments in public safety, serious crime has declined almost 16 percent over the last seven years. However, the recent rise in homicides and gun violence threatens our progress. Let me be clear, this administration will fight every second that I'm Mayor to make our streets are safe for our children and families. It's our job. Operation Safer Streets is our data-driven, flexible anti-violence program which includes strong collaboration between the community, the Police Department, other city agencies and a commitment to stronger laws against illegal guns in our Commonwealth.
This budget also funds our curfew and truancy efforts that are showing promising results. Since the first Curfew Center opened in Point Breeze last July, juvenile shootings have dropped dramatically in the 1st Police District and the 17th Police District, the two areas covered by the Center. We plan to open 11 more Curfew Centers this year. We also fund our considerable efforts to reintegrate into our community recently released persons from our prison system.
Ensuring the public's safety in post 9/11 America also demands that cities take appropriate steps to make sure they are prepared to handle any disaster or catastrophic event. Philadelphia undertook a comprehensive review of our preparedness and we are now implementing the findings. The budget before you increases the staff of our Office of Emergency Management-an essential finding of the report. At the same time, we are working with our regional partners to ensure the entire region is coordinated and prepared.
This budget includes funding to continue our greening and quality of life programs under our Neighborhood Transformation Initiative. Under our NTI Program, thousands of dangerous buildings were demolished and vacant lots were cleaned and greened. More than 12,000 units of affordable and market rate housing have been built and 13,000 more are planned or under construction.
Vibrant neighborhoods are indispensable to a bright future in the 21st century. Although second and third generation families remain the anchors in our neighborhoods, new families are moving in to help grow our city. The changing face of the infrastructure and landscape in our neighborhoods mirror the progress being made elsewhere in our city. Thousands of members of our regional workforce proudly call a Philadelphia neighborhood home.
The City has a stellar partner in its neighborhood work - the Philadelphia Housing Authority. Under the leadership of Carl Greene and a caring Board of Directors, public housing has been transformed in Philadelphia, and now serves as a catalyst for rising property values in neighborhoods that for decades experienced only decline and decay.
Our next step in transforming neighborhoods is restoring our commercial corridors. Thanks to the $65 million in bond proceeds already approved by this Council and reflected in this budget, this transformation is underway.
Neighborhood commercial corridors like those along Baltimore Avenue, Girard Avenue, Torresdale Avenue, Fifth Street and many others will become vibrant places of commerce, shopping and other activities in the continual revitalization of our neighborhoods.
We will continue to invest in our economy in accordance with a detailed Economic Blueprint spearheaded by Commerce Director Stephanie Naidoff. We will aggressively market our City through our tourism and hospitality entities.
Our waterfront is an enormous asset and we have taken great strides towards making Philadelphia the New River City. This Budget and Five Year Plan includes $125 million in bond proceeds to promote this goal. The housing, commercial and research development underway along both rivers will attract 21st century jobs and employers as well as highlight Philadelphia as a center for innovative research in health, science and engineering. Philadelphia must be viewed as a first tier competitor in the technology-based global economy.
The Budget and Plan also provides $65 million in funding for the infrastructure needs of arts and cultural organizations. Arts and culture are big business in our City and region and these investments will produce huge dividends in jobs, quality of life and economic development in the years ahead. Just like neighborhoods, arts and cultural organizations have felt neglected and taken for granted. No more! We are a city that cherishes its history. As such, we will engage the entire art and culture community, including neighborhood, ethnic and minority organization
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