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2012 BUDGET ADDRESS
MAYOR MICHAEL A. NUTTER
THURSDAY MARCH 8, 2012
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
City Council President Darrell Clarke, Council leadership, members of City Council, members of my Administration, former Mayor Street, distinguished guests, my fellow Philadelphians.
It is once again a great honor for me to stand in this hallowed chamber. It is here that the work of the people gets done.
If you will allow me, I'd like to extend a special welcome today to the first recipient of the Richardson Dilworth Award for Distinguished Public Service, Deputy Streets Commissioner Carlton Williams. Carlton is a leader in his community and his dedicated his career to public service and to making Philadelphia a better - and a cleaner - place.
Today I am excited to welcome six new members to this chamber. Each is already making their own mark on this great body, improving the lives of the people they represent.
Friends, I look forward to working with you, and with all members, on behalf of our city. I commit the attention and resources of my Administration to achieve our common vision and goals for the future of Philadelphia. Welcome.
And to Council President Darrell Clarke - the new President of Philadelphia City Council - you and I have known and worked well with each other for many years in many different capacities. You have championed the cause of the residents of the 5th District for over 30 years and nobody has fought more vigorously or tirelessly for them than you.
Now, in your new role of Council President, you have the opportunity to bring that same level of dedication to the entire city - to every citizen of Philadelphia. I am honored to work with you, Mr President, in partnership, as we fight to improve our neighborhoods, brings jobs to our city, and continue to move Philadelphia in the right direction.
This is a partnership that has worked, that can work and that will work for the city of Philadelphia.
It is my duty and intention today to present to this body a budget and a Five Year Plan that continues to rebuild and remake Philadelphia for the 21st Century.
A plan that tackles the challenges of the present, and makes investments in our future.
That puts money back in the pockets of all Philadelphians and makes it easier and less expensive for businesses to create jobs in our city.
And a plan that makes critical investments in neighborhoods throughout our city and continues to innovate and rethink how city government operates in order to improve the lives of all Philadelphians.
Today, I propose a budget which first and foremost addresses a mounting public safety challenge by providing funds to hire hundreds of new police officers and to invest in a community-based violence reduction program designed to bring long-term, sustainable peace to some of our most violent neighborhoods.
Also in this Five Year Plan we will restart the reductions in the wage and business taxes that we were forced to suspend by the Great Recession - a package of tax cuts and business-friendly measures passed by City Council that is more aggressive and will return more money to workers and businesses in Philadelphia than we had originally envisioned in the Five Year Plan that we introduced just last year.
We will make increased investments in communities across Philadelphia - renovating police stations, fire houses, recreation centers and neighborhood libraries while improving the surrounding neighborhoods and the quality of life of Philadelphians who use or live near these facilities.
For the first time we will create a Traffic Operations Center designed to help people get around the city faster and with less aggravation. By monitoring traffic flow and adjusting signals to respond to real time traffic movements we'll get you to the Phillies game before the national anthem is sung.
And we will continue the renewal of Center City with a $20m renovation of Love Park - creating an accessible, green space that will connect the new Dilworth Plaza - the People's Plaza - with a transformed, revitalized Benjamin Franklin Parkway - a magnificent public space certain to be recognized as one of the world's great cultural boulevards.
We will do all of this - more police on our streets, tax cuts, investments in our neighborhoods - because we are also continuing to innovate and rethink and remodel how city government should operate in the 21st Century.
A leaner, smaller, smarter government, focused on the fundamentals and a place where citizens, communities, and organizations come together to work on innovative solutions and creative ways to move Philadelphia forward while leaving no one behind.
Now, over the last few years we have endured some of the toughest times in our city's recent history and I stand before you a proud member of a battle-tested team - a team that includes many in this Chamber.
We made difficult choices together, cut back on services, and asked Philadelphians to pay a little more in order to preserve core services and protect the most vulnerable people in our city.
We worked together - my Administration, City Council, our Harrisburg and Washington elected officials, the business and social service communities, and the great citizens of this city - to guide Philadelphia through the recession and to emerge a stronger city on the other side.
However - even though our population is increasing, businesses are investing and creating jobs, our finances have begun to stabilize, our tax receipts are growing moderately - I cannot say to you honestly that our troubles have passed.
There are at least three major financial challenges that we face and must deal with as we move forward as a city.
The first is that the School District of Philadelphia is still in the midst of a financial crisis with a budget gap of $26m still to close this fiscal year and an anticipated deficit of anywhere between $150m and $400m to close next year.
The good news is that there is now a team of people working at the District to structurally rebalance their finances - solving a deficit years in the making - and continuing the education reform process that is already beginning to show results in some of our previously lowest performing schools.
I am committed to reforming, restructuring and - where necessary - replacing schools that are not serving our students well, because I believe, and I know that members of this body will agree with me, that every young person in Philadelphia has the right to a high quality education and that we have the duty to provide it.
Secondly, in Harrisburg, Governor Corbett has proposed a budget that once again cuts funding for secondary and higher education at a time when Governors across the country - including right across the Delaware River - are investing more in education and becoming more competitive.
Furthermore this proposed state budget includes severe cuts to social service programs which would have a calamitous, devastating impact on the most vulnerable people in Pennsylvania.
The Governor's budget - if adopted by the General Assembly - would reduce our ability to shelter many of Philadelphia's homeless people, provide care for those with HIV and AIDS, rehabilitate those with drug and alcohol problems, or treat people with severe mental and behavioral disabilities in their homes, rather than in institutions.
It fundamentally redefines what government - and for that matter civil society - is all about. The Governor's budget may save money, but at what cost to people? It may be balanced, but is it fair? It will throw into turmoil and disarray families, towns, cities and counties across this Commonwealth.
Along with service providers, representatives of these most vulnerable populations, and elected officials from across the Commonwealth - my Administration has begun to make the case to Harrisburg to look again at this budget
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