Title
FY2026 Budget Speech
The One Philly 2.0 Budget
Good morning to my friend, Council President Kenyatta Johnson, to Council’s Leadership team, Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson, Majority Whip Isaiah Thomas, Deputy Majority Whip Cindy Bass, Minority Leader Kendra Brooks, Minority Whip Nicolas O’Rourke, and every Member of City Council,Members of the Philadelphia Delegation and all statewide leaders here with us today, Faith Leaders, Men and Women of Organized Labor, Community Leaders, the Business and Philanthropic community,Members of my Cabinet and our City Workers, Everyone watching online, listening to WURD, and tuning in on TV. Good morning and thank you for welcoming me back home into the Chambers of Philadelphia City Council today. Last year, I told a story about how my journey to public service began in this Chamber. I gave a Black History Month speech here, as a 17-year-old high school student.
I later came to work here, and I learned from Giants - my mentors, Councilmember Marian Tasco and Augusta “Gussie” Clark. Role models like Anna Verna, Joan Krajewski, and Jannie Blackwell. These Leaders taught me many things. But none more important than this. If you SHOW up and DO the WORK every day for the People of Philadelphia, GOOD THINGS WILL FOLLOW! I am proud to return today, as the 100th Mayor of our Great City of Philadelphia, having submitted my Proposed Fiscal Year 2026 Budget, Five-Year Plan and Recommended Capital Budget and Program to City Council for its consideration. Last year, I called it the ‘One Philly Budget,’ funding my promise to the People of Philadelphia for a Safer, Cleaner and Greener City, with Access to Economic Opportunity for All. With the collaboration and hard work of this Council, we delivered on that promise by approving a $6.37 Billion Budget that invested in a City government people can see, touch and feel. This year, I am calling it the One Philly 2.0 Budget - the new and improved version! It’s a $6.7 Billion Budget - brimming with vital investments for Philadelphians. However, before I dive into the details, I need to share a story about something that happened six weeks ago in our City. On January 31st, an unimaginable Black Swan event struck our City. An airplane crashed near the Roosevelt Mall in Northeast Philadelphia. Seven people tragically lost their lives. Two more remain hospitalized with severe burns, including a young boy whose father perished that night. By now you know that your mayor is a praying mayor, and so I ask that you pray for all of the victims of this tragedy. Please stand with me in a moment of silence. Our emergency responders, Philadelphia Police and Fire, and other city workers responded immediately to the crash, and have continued working EVERY day since to help the people of Northeast Philadelphia recover. Our Mayor’s Business Action Team met with dozens of businesses impacted by the crash. Our Neighborhood and Community Engagement Team knocked on EVERY door in the neighborhood to let people know where to find help. Our Licenses & Inspections Team inspected every impacted home for structural issues. And we are providing trauma and behavioral health care to those who need it. People know that they can Call 988 - and our support staff will help you get through this tough time.
Councilmembers Driscoll and O’Neill, Northeast Philadelphia is RESILIENT and STRONG - like our City - and we will NOT REST until we have provided every support available for our residents and businesses!
Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel, Fire Commissioner Jeff Thompson, Managing Director Adam Thiel, Emergency Management Director Dominick Mireles - please stand. Director Alba Martinez and Salim Wilson from our Commerce Department. L&I Commissioner Basil Merenda and Hassan Freeman from our Neighborhood and Community Engagement team. Every City employee who has served residents at the crash site, please stand. Let us now honor EVERY CITY WORKER who has worked at the crash site or in the surrounding community!
Before I address the Challenges in front of us in Fiscal Year 2026, I need to highlight some of the challenges we took on in the current year - FY 2025 - and look at how we did so far. In other words, ‘Don’t just listen to what I say ... watch what I DO’. ... Or in this case, what we have DONE. We fact-check what we do in the Parker administration and what we promise to the People of Philadelphia. So we cross-checked every promise that I made in last year’s budget address - 33 promises to be precise! And in a flyer that we’re handing out today, we’re letting you know exactly how we did so far. We do not promise perfection - we are doing the best we can with what we have. Let’s take a look.
PUBLIC SAFETY. I said last year, I felt a sense of urgency and that we’d be laser-focused and unapologetic about improving Public Safety. How did we do?
• Homicides are down 37 percent.
• Shootings are down 36 percent.
• We have 200 Police Officers doing Community Policing in our neighborhoods. I promised it, and it’s WORKING.
One of those new Community Policing Officers is with us today. Police Officer Anastasia Briscoe, who joined the Police Department last Fall, is now walking a foot beat in the 1st District in South Philadelphia around Broad & Snyder, getting to know the community on a daily basis, and not just when someone calls 911.
It’s not just Policing! Our mantra is Prevention, Intervention and Enforcement - P.I.E.
Led by Chief Public Safety Director Adam Geer and Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel, we PRACTICE it EVERY DAY.
• ANTI-VIOLENCE. We awarded $19 million to anti-violence community organizations that know their neighborhoods best in 2024 and another $24 million so far this year. IT’S MAKING A DIFFERENCE.
• YOUTH SPORTS. We’re funding youth sports because THAT is how we help give our children a positive path! Our kids shouldn’t have to stand on street corners with helmets and drums to raise funds. THEIR CITY SHOULD SUPPORT THEM AND WE ARE - $3.2 million in the current budget!
Two special people are here today. Amir Fisher is a football player and his coach Donald Richardson from Blackhawks Athletic Club in North Philly are here. Please stand! We SUPPORT YOU!
CLEAN AND GREEN. I promised a new Office and Approach to tackle quality of life issues and banish that “Filthadelphia” moniker once and for all! So, how’d we do?
• CLEANED over 67,000 City Streets and Neighborhood Corridors! 67,187 to be PRECISE!
• TOWED 11,617 Abandoned Cars and Vehicles - THANK YOU Philadelphia Police AND the Parking Authority AND Clean and Green.
• CLEANED 17,319 Vacant Lots! Thank you CLIP and thank you PA Horticultural Society!
INTERGOVERNMENTAL COLLABORATION AT ITS BEST!
PHL TCB. We promised we’d fund PHL Taking Care of Business - a community-based cleaning program that creates economic opportunity at the same time. How did we do?
• TCB employs 324 workers, and we’re supporting 39 community-based organizations that clean up 155 Commercial Corridors!
• By the end of March, TCB will add new organizations and more workers to clean 39 MORE areas across Philadelphia!
EDUCATION. We promised we would invest in year-round schooling to give our children the same opportunities as kids in suburban schools! How’d we do?
• We opened 25 Extended Day/Extended Year pre- and after-school programs - traditional public AND charter schools - offering over 7,000 new slots for educational enrichment. THAT’S PROGRESS!
• We increased the portion of Real Estate taxes going to the School District to provide an additional $124 million over five years.
• We also added $125 million over five years for Schools through our property revaluation process!
• These added funding streams for Schools are in ADDITION to the more than $280 million contribution that we make each year to the School District through the budget process.
• Do the math: That’s more than $1.4 billion in contributions over the next five years in addition to $250 million in new support. WE SEE AND HEAR YOU, DR. WATLINGTON!
Folks, you get the Snapshot? We are NEVER satisfied in this Administration and know that we have a LOT MORE WORK TO DO. But we made PROGRESS in our First Year and City Council has been a full partner in that progress, Mr. President! We actually did a whole lot more, but we want to get to this Budget and our Plans for FY2026! But quickly, before we do that, know you can go to our brand-new Data Tracking website - Philly Stat 360 - and look at a wide range of City programs and see for yourself how we’re doing.
Councilmember Landau, you know like I do that solid data and transparency are essential for making good decisions in EVERYTHING we do. Philadelphia, if you haven’t yet gotten a close-up look, go to our new Philly Stat 360 dashboard and see it for yourself! Kristin Bray and Melissa Scott, I see you both! Let me say one more thing before we dive into Fiscal Year 2026 and my proposed budget. There is uncertainty in the air now. People don’t know what to expect from their government. Uncertainty can breed fear. I want the People of Philadelphia and our City employees to hear me: Your City is here to keep you safe, and to safeguard your basic rights. Our diversity is what makes us, One Philly, a United City.
FISCAL STABILITY
Ok, let’s start with the State of the City’s FISCAL HEALTH.
The state of the City’s fiscal health remains Strong. We continue to make contributions to the Budget Stabilization Reserve Fund. It will have $280 million by the end of the Proposed Five Year Plan. That fund will be especially important as we face economic and federal policy uncertainties moving forward. Thank you, Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson, for your strong leadership on this issue. The trajectory of the City’s Pension Fund continues to move in the right direction. We’ve now reached a 65 percent funding level - the highest in decades! That’s an increase of more than 20 percentage points in just 8 years. AND, it’s due to reach 80 percent in FY29 and 100 percent by FY33. That was a key factor that led S & P Global Ratings to upgrade the City of Philadelphia to its highest combined credit rating in decades.
Finance Director Rob Dubow, Budget Director Sabrina Maynard, City Treasurer Jackie Dunn, Deputy City Treasurer Matt Bowman, and all the dedicated Finance employees, take a bow! Thank you for your service to our City! I also want to thank the Members and staff of the Pension Board, our Municipal Unions, City Council and our Philadelphia delegation to the General Assembly. EVERYONE has played a role in the stabilization of our Pension Fund - a development with enormous fiscal consequences for our City. Higher credit ratings are a key factor in determining the interest rate the City pays when we borrow money. Lower interest rates mean we pay LESS to borrow and can invest MORE in city services for our residents.
But our discipline with the Pension Fund does even more: Once these obligations to our workers are fully funded, our annual general fund costs will drop by more than $430 million! That’s REAL money we can use for our biggest priorities.
We will face fiscal challenges ahead. As you’ll remember from last year, I noted that the City borrowed $1.3 billion in the 1990s to shore up our pension fund. We’re still paying for it today. From now through FY29, we’ll pay $1 billion in debt service - including an $80 million balloon payment in FY29. We’ll meet our obligations - as we always do. I will not allow anything to compromise our fiscal stability! NOW, LET’S TURN TO FY2026 AND SEE WHAT’S IN THIS BUDGET FOR PHILADELPHIANS
We are continuing to make BIG and BOLD investments in our City and our residents - just as we did in our first year.
Let’s start with Public Safety - my Number 1 priority as your Mayor. As I said earlier, our model of P.I.E. - Prevention, Intervention and Enforcement - is the baseline for all of our Public Safety efforts. We cannot police our way out of the problems associated with gun violence or open-air drug markets, anywhere in our city! It is our COMPREHENSIVE Public Safety Strategy that is making a difference, Councilmember O’Rourke - we all know that! And our P.I.E. strategy is beginning to show results. Under Chief Public Safety Director Adam Geer, many action steps are underway, and we are making further investments in Public Safety in FY26.
Neighborhood Wellness Court. We opened a Neighborhood Wellness Court as a pilot in January in Kensington. I want to THANK the First Judicial District for WORKING with the Parker administration on this innovation. The Wellness Court offers fast-track diversion for people arrested for drug-related offenses. In FY26, we will EXPAND Neighborhood Wellness Court to a 5-days-a-week pilot - a $2.7 Million investment in wellness that will be well-spent.
In addition to a judicial hearing and warrant clearance, defendants can receive same day medical and behavioral assessment, treatment intake, and other services - all in one setting. This innovative new program complements our existing Police Assisted Diversion or PAD, which provided pre-booking diversion for drug-related offenses in over 1,000 cases already last year. We will also expand Police Assisted Diversion in FY26 as a pilot with a $2.8 Million investment. Both these Public Safety investments are designed to get more individuals suffering from a multitude of ailments off the streets and connected to the treatment services they need. Public Safety is not just about programs. It’s about real Philadelphians. One of them is Allen Burrell. Allen was shot 10 times. He was referred to our Group Violence Intervention Initiative by a family member. His aunt believed GVI could help Allen. He has engaged actively with our GVI program and dedicated himself to making a change. He enrolled in workforce development programs, and today he is working full-time with the City of Philadelphia! Allen, please stand and be recognized! We appreciate your Journey! You are why we do the work! These are just SOME of the many Prevention- and Intervention-based programs that our Office of Public Safety is leading on every day. I want to thank Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr. and all of City Council for CREATING this Office just over a year ago - it's making a DIFFERENCE in helping Philadelphia become a Safer City! Councilmember Jones, I believe the Office of Public Safety is practicing intergovernmental collaboration EXACTLY as your Blueprint for a Safer Philadelphia called for - you helped lay the roadmap! You heard the numbers already - our Homicides and Shootings are down significantly in Philadelphia compared with a year ago, and they’re declining more sharply here than in other big cities. BUT NO ONE IS EXHALING OR SAYING ‘MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!’ AROUND HERE. Every homicide, every incident of violence, is a loss for Philadelphia, and a stain on our city’s soul. Someone’s son or father, daughter or mother, family member or friend - they are not statistics. They are human beings!
And I will NEVER REST until EVERY family and individual in EVERY neighborhood feels safe in their home and walking the streets of their community. So we have much more work to do, and our Police Department under Commissioner Bethel’s leadership is more than up to the job.
We’re embracing technology to improve our performance. The Police Department will move forward with a new Forensics Lab to assist the force with forensics investigations to help solve crime. I got a first-hand look at how good our Department is at forensic science during its painstaking investigation following the plane crash in Northeast Philadelphia. Dr. Michael Garvey, our Police Department’s Director of Forensic Science, thank you for your service during this difficult investigation - we’re investing in Forensics science now to get you and the Department more support. DR GARVEY, PLEASE STAND UP! Our FY26-FY30 Plan includes an additional $67 Million for the new Forensics Lab and related costs - it's money well spent to help us solve crime and keep Philadelphia safer. I am proud to publicly announce that the new lab will be located in West Philadelphia at 4101 Market Street. This will mark a giant step forward in forensics technology and crime-solving ability for our Police Department! We’re making progress at recruiting, training and hiring new Police Officers too - last year, 369 Officers went through our Police Academy and joined the Force. That is a significant increase from the previous year, when only 201 Officers joined the Department. I’m also proud to report that EVERY Police Officer on the streets of Philadelphia will be outfitted with a Body-Worn Camera by the end of THIS YEAR - 2025! That’s not all. We’re moving towards installing dash-cam cameras in every Police patrol car too - critical tools also used by the Pennsylvania State Police. These investments protect our officers AND the public. I’ve always made it clear - I fully support EVERY Police Officer who’s on the front lines, protecting and serving Philadelphians - so long as they do so without any misuse or abuse of their constitutional authority. And yet, I’ve often been criticized for being too ‘pro-Police.’ I don’t agree. Philadelphians want to BE and FEEL SAFE, and they deserve that basic human right. I have one more thing to say about our Police Department. We all hear about the sacrifices that our Police Officers make to be on the front lines, protecting Philadelphians. It’s one thing to hear about those sacrifices, it’s another thing to live them. Last June, Police Officer Jaime Roman was on patrol, in Kensington, when he made a routine car stop. The stop turned deadly, when a suspect shot Officer Roman, who was gravely wounded. Officer Roman clung to life, before succumbing to his wounds in September. He gave the last true measure of devotion to our City. His widow, Jazmine Hernandez, is here with us today. Please - let us all rise to honor Officer Roman’s ultimate sacrifice for Philadelphia.
VISION ZERO - FY26
Now, we ALSO deserve public safety on our roadways and streets. This time last year I signed an executive order recommitting the City of Philadelphia to the goal of reaching zero traffic deaths.
In alignment with the Vision Zero Task Force, my Administration has moved to advance safety projects across the city - with a focus on every mile of the High Injury Network where the majority of fatal and serious injury crashes occur.
The speed cameras on Roosevelt Boulevard - one of the most dangerous roads in the nation - have saved over 50 lives. Meanwhile, Councilmember Isaiah Thomas is pressing for more red-light cameras that will help keep us safe - THANK YOU! This public safety work matters.
Thanks to State Rep. Ed Neilson and our delegation in Harrisburg, this program is permanent and allowing us to expand to five more corridors.
Since then - and working closely with this body, including Councilmember Jeff Young who chairs the Streets Committee - we're installing cameras on North Broad Street and PA-13, two more major roadways of the High Injury Network.
However, far more needs to get done - and will get done - to finally eliminate all traffic fatalities in our city. This is why our proposed budget and Plan includes major investments for a slate of Vision Zero projects. We’re committing:
• $5 million for Vision Zero in FY26; and
• $30 million in capital investments over six years for speed cushions, line striping, and other traffic safety measures.
But this isn’t even close to the whole story. We’ve secured and put to work millions of dollars more from the state and federal governments. All of this will help us reach our goal.
Every Philadelphian deserves to travel safely throughout our city and return home safe and unharmed. It doesn’t matter where you live or work, your age, race or ethnicity, income, or how you choose to travel. You deserve to be safe traveling on our streets.
One more thing: I am PROUD to report that once the MLK Bridge behind the Art Museum is completed, Martin Luther King Drive will FULLY RE-OPEN and you’ll be able to drive through straight to the Parkway. They’re saying it’ll be done by September! Streets Commissioner Kristin DelRossi - I know you’re on it!
SEPTA
Public transportation is critical to sustainable, resilient neighborhoods - let's talk about SEPTA for a moment.
SEPTA is facing its own set of difficult fiscal challenges. That’s why this Budget and Five Year Plan includes $716 million in operating support to SEPTA over 5 years and a $76 million capital match over the capital program.
Philadelphia, don’t let anyone tell you we’re not contributing our fair share to help SEPTA while we await the Commonwealth’s support to put the system on solid ground!
We ARE and we will CONTINUE doing so! Public transportation is absolutely vital to our City’s future. We hear you, Councilmember Jamie Gauthier!
Clean and Green - FY26
As with public safety, there’s no other issue I hear about more from residents than clean and green, and they tell me they can SEE and FEEL the difference! But we’re just getting started.
First, Director Carlton Williams and our departments are going to partner with nonprofits, community groups, and philanthropy to implement a new Ten-Point Greening Plan.
We’re talking about neighborhood actions here: tree planting, vacant lot cleaning and greening, improving our parks, supporting community gardens, and much more.
Councilmember Kendra Brooks, we KNOW how important community gardens are, and we’ll lift them up through Clean and Green! In addition, that’s why my Administration strategized and drafted the priority bid legislation for the Land Bank and asked you to introduce it. Your partnership is invaluable!
At the same time, a new Anti-Litter Task Force is going to coordinate efforts across government to enforce litter and blight violations while we target with increased fines and hundreds of surveillance cameras the illegal dumping that plagues some neighborhoods.
We’ll also be removing graffiti from highway passes and hotspots in our neighborhoods, and will invest $2.4 million over 3 years to redirect graffiti artists’ energy through powerful programs run by Mural Arts to display their talent for all to enjoy.
This is what many thousands of people will see when they visit our city in 2026. A first impression matters, and we’re going to make a good one.
We’re also investing $4.2 million in planters to be installed along neighborhood commercial corridors. These will beautify our streets while helping to improve traffic safety. If they can work in Center City and Chestnut Hill, we deserve them all over the city!
As for the programs we started last year - the One Philly Citywide Cleaning Program, Twice Weekly Trash Collection, and residential cleaning crews by Council Districts - none of this is going away! The gameplan going forward is to expand them and make them more effective.
Twice a Week Trash Collections in Center City and South Philly now, Mr. President - and we’ll bring it next to North Philly this year!
“HOUSING, HOUSING, HOUSING”]
Last month, I was thrilled to formally launch our housing initiative by signing an Executive Order creating the HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES MADE EASY Initiative, or H.O.M.E. for short. My promise is this: 30,000 units of Housing - created or preserved - while I serve as your Mayor. To accelerate the planning process, the Executive Order I signed set several important steps into motion: First, some 25 City Departments and Offices are charged to make housing one of their top priorities. They have 30 days to come up with recommendations to streamline processes, cut red tape, and make legislative and regulatory changes that will help spur the faster production and restoration of housing - without sacrificing health and safety. Councilmember Cindy Bass, we’ll need your expertise on zoning issues as we work together on housing! At the same time, we’re engaging an Advisory Group and dozens of External Stakeholders. You can only get BIG work done around a BIG table. I’m talking about developers and CDCs. Partners like Philadelphia Works, PHDC, PHFA, and the Philadelphia Housing Authority. And key players in the industry: BIA, GBCA, and the Building and Construction Trades and the Carpenters. All of these folks will be helping to shape our Housing Plan. I know you may be wondering: “How much is this going to cost?” or “Where’s the actual Housing Plan?” While I am proud to announce one part of the funding strategy today, I am also pleased to reveal that, for the first time in the history of our city, we will have a Special Session on Housing hosted by my friend, Council President Johnson and this City Council on March 24th. That’s when we’ll share ALL of the details of our Proposed Housing Plan.
This is going to be an historic, unprecedented investment for Philadelphians. Council President Johnson, I have long said that this plan - housing preservation and building of new - will be one of our ‘Maynard moments’ - referencing the late Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson who created real, tangible and ONGOING economic opportunity for Atlantans. To get started with the first part of the funding strategy, over the course of my Five Year Plan, this administration will issue $800 million in bonds for our Housing Plan. Yes, $800 MILLION! And not only that, we will begin by issuing $400 million of those bonds in FY26, and we plan on spending that money as quickly as possible. I want shovels in the ground! I want houses rehabbed and restored! Let me be clear: we started this work on Day One and will not spend years in planning mode. This cannot wait! If you know anything about me, you know I understand the urgency in our communities. We’re here to TAKE ACTION. Philadelphians NEED MORE HOUSING, and they need it NOW! I want Philadelphians - renters AND homeowners - in the best possible housing units they can attain. And I want to help more Philadelphians to become homeowners, if that’s what they choose. This also means that we will NOT, in any way, shape or form - pit “the have-nots against those who have just a little bit.” Chairman Harris, this is about ensuring Philadelphians across income levels and across the city have a safe, secure, and affordable place to live. And I won’t play politics on this. I’m beyond excited to work with this City Council to get this done, and I look forward to laying out our FULL plan in the Special Session on Housing on March 24th. But while we’re talking about housing, you should know that we’re going to eliminate the Construction Impact Tax. We can incentivize the building of new housing by removing this levy.
EDUCATION - FY 2026
As proud as we are of our efforts to improve the quality of our educational system during the first year of the Parker administration, we KNOW how much more work remains to be done!
Senator Hughes, I was heartened to see Governor Shapiro propose millions more for teacher stipends to tackle the dire teacher shortage in the Commonwealth. I was a secondary English teacher, and I know what a stipend would have meant to me when I was doing my student teaching at Coatesville High School.
This is why the City is making ANOTHER millage shift in the Real Estate Tax in FY 2030 to increase funding for Public Education by another $12 MILLION per year to be specifically earmarked for teacher salaries. Our teachers deserve to earn a living wage. This is part of OUR ongoing commitment to our teachers as we pull on every lever - from stronger recruitment to workforce housing - to make Philadelphia the best place in the country to work in a classroom. ARTHUR STEINBERG, we look forward to working with the PFT and the School District to achieve that. I’m also proud to announce that we are EXPANDING our Extended Day/Extended Year program of before- and after-school educational enrichment opportunities by 15 MORE SCHOOLS - 10 district operated schools and 5 Charter schools. This will bring our Extended Day/Extended Year initiative to a total of 40 schools serving thousands of children and their families! Study after study shows that these programs MATTER GREATLY when it comes to childrens’ educational development, and we’re doing what we said we’d do! I want to thank Chief Deputy Mayor Vanessa Garrett Harley and Chief Education Officer Dr. Debora Carrera for all their work here, and of course, none of this progress would be possible without the close working partnership that we have with the best School Superintendent in the country - Dr. Tony Watlington.
Councilmember Anthony Phillips - I know this is a Program and Value that we support together! One parent whose child is thriving because of Extended Day/Extended Year is here with us today. Lindsay Russell is the mother of Sydney, who is 9 years old and attends Gompers Elementary School. Sydney is benefitting from Extended Day/Extended Year and her mom wanted to be here with us today. LINDSAY, PLEASE STAND! One more young person to lift up this morning! I want to welcome Jenine Gaskins, a sixth grader at the Edmonds School, another one of our Extended Day/Extended Year schools. She recently won first place in the One Philly Black History Oratorical Showcase that was held at City Hall. Jenine is here today with her father, Donovan Gaskins and her principal, Wendy Sharpe. Jenine, I, too, won an oratorical award in City Hall when I was younger. Congratulations! We are so proud of you!
FAIR MULTI-YEAR CONTRACTS FOR OUR MUNICIPAL WORKFORCE
As Philadelphia readies itself for the World in 2026, and as we focus on 30,000 housing units through our H.O.M.E. Initiative, it is well worth pausing to remind ourselves of exactly WHO does all the work for our residents in the City of Philadelphia. The dedicated Municipal Workforce that rises to every occasion. That’s who our City employees are. Whether it’s Philadelphia Police on the front lines, or our firefighters and emergency responders running into harm’s way, or the hard-working individuals who pick up the trash every day and keep our streets and sewers clean, or every social worker, librarian, housing employee, or prison correctional officer who shows up EVERY DAY to serve the People of Philadelphia, or THOUSANDS of other workers in other departments, our Workforce makes me PROUD and HUMBLED to serve as their Mayor! City workers are our people - not assets - and we will treat them with the respect and dignity they DESERVE. Councilmember Jimmy Harrity, Chair of Council’s Labor Committee, you KNOW what I’m talking about! So let’s just come out and say what many are thinking today. If we can find the money for tax investments and job growth, then SURELY we can find the money to give our hard-working Municipal Workers the fair, multi-year contract agreements that they deserve! And I stand here before you today, Council colleagues, and I am proud to report that we have $550 MILLION in Labor Reserve Funds in this Proposed Five Year Plan - a Historic and Unprecedented Figure! And I am committed, under the leadership of our Chief Deputy Mayor Sinceré Harris and her team of labor negotiators, to reach fair and fiscally responsible, multi-year agreements with ALL FOUR of our Municipal Unions this year! With all that’s going on in our country right now with government workers, our One Philly philosophy has never been more important. Roosevelt Poplar of Lodge 5 of the Fraternal Order of Police, Mike Bresnan of Local 22 of the Philadelphia Firefighters’ and Paramedics Union, Greg Boulware of District Council 33 of AFSCME, and April Gigetts of District Council 47 of AFSCME, I want you to know that we will continue working TOGETHER to find common ground and GET TO YES on multi-year agreements for our City’s workforce that pay a FAIR wage with health and pension benefits - while maintaining our fiscal stability! Presidents Poplar and Bresnan, Boulware and Gigetts-and all the hard-working men and women represented by AFSCME, the FOP, and Local 22, please stand and be acknowledged!
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY - FY2026
Creating Economic Opportunity is central to the Parker Administration in so many ways.
Through our innovative City College for Municipal Employment, we are working in partnership with Community College, the School District and others to train Philadelphians for careers in City government. We’re talking about good-paying City jobs, with health benefits and pensions that will mean brighter economic futures! We are upskilling existing City workers too - training them to advance on their career paths. This spring, 32 high school seniors will receive CCME training that will give them the opportunity for City employment with Fleet Services, the Water Department and Public Property.
We will continue to work with other departments on growing quality opportunities for direct pipelines from our high schools into City employment.
That’s right-from the School District of Philadelphia to the City employment. THAT’S the kind of pipeline the Parker Administration is building for our young people!
One of our CCME students is Aleena Chandy, who’s enrolled in the Computer Support Specialist program at Community College of Philadelphia in CCME. Aleena hopes and plans to work for the City of Philadelphia while supporting herself and her family. Please welcome Aleena here with us today! Aleena, YOU are the future that we are fighting for in Philadelphia! PLEASE STAND UP! Dr. Guy Generals, Pat Clancy of Philadelphia Works, and of course, our terrific Superintendent Dr. Watlington - THANK YOU for Collaborating with us on CCME. You can learn more about CCME and start your pathway to a good job with the City of Philadelphia. Check it out at www.phila.gov/ccme <http://www.phila.gov/ccme> And to our City team - Chief Administrative Officer Camille Duchaussee, CCME Executive Director Carol DeFries and Chief Human Resources Officer Candi Jones - THANK YOU!
MORE ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
I signed the PHL Open for Business Executive Order last spring, and our Commerce Department, led by Director Alba Martinez, is working to make it faster, easier and less costly to do business in Philadelphia. Commerce also just announced a new $5 Million Small Business Catalyst Fund - providing “love capital” to businesses early in their growth journey, especially those from historically underinvested neighborhoods. Thank you, Commerce, for getting the job done.
WELLNESS - FY26
Let’s talk about the new Wellness Ecosystem that we’re building under the Parker administration, and what it means not only for Kensington, but for our entire City.
Before I say another word, it’s very important to me that I personally thank a group of public officials, who are working every day to improve the quality of life and public safety for the People of Kensington.
I speak, of course, of none other than the Kensington Caucus.
o Councilmember Quetzy Lozada,
o Councilmember Mark Squilla,
o Councilmember Mike Driscoll, and
o Councilmember Jimmy Harrity ...
THANK YOU for EVERYTHING you are doing to help restore the Community of Kensington. You should know that I recently started office hours in Kensington, and I held a well-attended community stakeholder meeting, and I will continue engaging with the people. Thank you for your support! Since Day One of my Administration, we have worked shoulder-to-shoulder with the residents of Kensington to end this opioid-driven humanitarian crisis once and for all. First, we assembled the most experienced people in our City’s health care systems, to learn what was working - and what wasn’t - and how we could work together to create a new ecosystem of wellness care for people struggling with substance use, addiction, mental and behavioral health challenges and homelessness. It had never been done before but we assembled that network of experts - we listened - and then we took ACTION. We put $100 million in capital dollars in the current FY2025 budget - THANK YOU, City Council - to begin building out that new network and facilities needed to provide wellness care. I also want to thank our City Solicitor, Renee Garcia, and her dynamic team of lawyers, for their relentless work to secure tens of millions of dollars in Opioid Settlement Funds that’s reinforcing so much of our Wellness work. Now, there were some who said it couldn’t be done. It was too much, too fast. Where would the facility be located, and where was the plan? WE DID NOT HAVE TIME TO WAIT, WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF A HUMANITARIAN CRISIS, AND WE ACTED WITH URGENCY, FOCUS AND A PLAN. Under the leadership of Managing Director Adam Thiel, Capital Programs Director Aparna Palantino, and a host of city agencies - and with the tremendous work of the Philadelphia Building Trades and other unions, we gutted and rehabilitated an existing city facility in Northeast Philadelphia in 88 days - record time! - and we opened the Riverview Wellness Village in January. Riverview has a 336-bed capacity, with expert providers Merakey, Gaudenzia, and the Black Doctors Consortium, and it is serving people - from across Philadelphia - right now!
Folks, we believe that what we are doing with our wellness model at Riverview can set the standard for how we treat the homeless and unhoused throughout our city.
I want to thank Dale Construction and the Building Trades for working with my Administration on developing a ‘proof of concept’ plan as we continue on this journey together.
There is NOTHING we CANNOT DO when WE WORK TOGETHER, PHILADELPHIA!
This is just the beginning. We will CONTINUE building out the Riverview site - as I promised we would - during FY2026. This additional building is planned to add hundreds of additional beds, which can be adapted to meet the ecosystem’s evolving needs.
We will invest another $216 Million over the next Five-Year Plan to support all our Wellness operating costs. Riverview provides not just food and shelter, but medical care, behavioral health care, job training, and a host of other services. I’m with Councilmember Nina Ahmad in wanting EVERY Philadelphian to have access to healthcare, including the most vulnerable.
2026
In little over a year, America will be celebrating its 250th anniversary. I assure you: PHILADELPHIA, the birthplace of democracy, IS READY TO WELCOME THE WORLD in 2026.
We will engage every corner of Philadelphia - with meaningful investments, economic opportunities, and a spirit of celebration across EVERY neighborhood.
At the same time, we’ll ensure that the nation’s birthplace and first World Heritage City takes center stage as we host a slate of major events that will elevate Philadelphia on the world stage.
The big events begin this year, with the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup this summer followed by Homecoming 250, honoring our veterans and celebrating the founding of the United States Navy and the Marine Corps -founded right here in Philadelphia!
Next year, it’s the 2026 FIFA World Cup, MLB All-Star Week, and the America250 celebrations that’ll remind the world where this democracy started.
As of last month, the Parker Administration, in partnership with this Council and President Johnson, has committed more than $30 million for partners and event preparations along with nearly $28 million new investments for public safety to date. So with the mid-year transfer, along with the funding proposed in this FY26 budget, that will bring our total investment in 2026 to OVER $100 MILLION. This means community events and programming, investments in our commercial corridors, and cleaning and beautifying citywide.
This is important. When we clean up areas along Interstate 95 and I-76 - these are areas that guests from all over the country and the world will see first as they arrive in Philadelphia.
Some people forget that preparing for 2026 means getting our own house in order!
We’re also investing in our transportation infrastructure, with Philadelphia International Airport as our global gateway and SEPTA as the arteries to move these many hundreds of thousands of people around the city and region.
For the record, the Airport alone has been putting to use $500 million for capital projects to manage spikes in traveler volume and to ensure a top-class guest experience. Atif Saeed, we are COUNTING on you!
And we’re also investing in both our world-renowned arts and cultural institutions as well as the local treasures that people will discover as they explore our city. Val Gay, I’m so proud we have you on our team, and we need you!
This will be an exciting year. I hope y'all are ready. I know that Michael Newmuis, our Director of 2026, and Jazelle Jones, our great City Representative and Director of Special Events - they are ready!
TAX REFORM
Now, on to tax investments. At the beginning of my Remarks, I spoke of the City’s Fiscal Health, and how our Fiscal Responsibility TODAY will help free up MORE MONEY TOMORROW for us to invest in services for our residents.
I also said that when it comes to Economic Opportunity and all we have done so far - that we need to be laser-focused on CREATING JOBS for Philadelphians. The ONLY WAY to create greater access to opportunity for EVERY Philadelphian is to grow the economic pie - to ATTRACT and GROW businesses that will create jobs that pay family-sustaining wages. But doing this requires that we FINALLY address a tax structure that’s hindered growth and stunted the job creation we so desperately need. Now, this isn’t a new challenge, and it’s not an easy one. So I’m grateful to Council President Kenyatta Johnson for his wisdom to approach this issue carefully, in collaboration with my Administration. This is also why we made no changes to tax rates last year. (And we caught a whole of heat for making that decision too.) Instead, we focused with this Council on making deep, historic investments in city services - $2 Billion worth! - making our neighborhoods safer and cleaner - as an important inducement to businesses to locate here and grow. In the meantime, the Tax Reform Commission reconvened by this Council studied the pathways we could take together. Thank you to Co-chairs Richard Vague and Matt Stitt, and all of the Commission members for their service - and to our friends in the African American Chamber, the Hispanic Chamber, the Asian Chamber, the Independence Business Alliance, and the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. For our part, I directed my team to move forward with these guiding principles: First, the changes we make should be significant and unprecedented in scope. Big opportunities warrant big changes from the status quo. Second, we must be fiscally responsible. Nothing is more important than our City’s fiscal health. And third, we should take advantage of the fact that - FINALLY - Philadelphia’s Pension Fund will soon be fully funded, dramatically reducing costs that have saddled us for decades. This last point is critical. When the Pension Fund reaches full funding status in Fiscal Year 2033, pension costs will decrease by more than $430 million per year. This creates an opportunity to set Philadelphia on a different course - one of steady growth and the creation of jobs that sustain families and neighborhoods. IF WE WORK TOGETHER, THERE IS NOTHING WE CANNOT ACCOMPLISH FOR PHILADELPHIA! IT’S TIME TO REFORM OUR BUSINESS TAX STRUCTURE NOW! Why? Because Philadelphia is an outlier in how we tax businesses. The Business Income and Receipts Tax targets BOTH gross receipts AND net income - BOTH the revenue a business is generating for itself AND its profits. Just think about your own paycheck, Philadelphia. Right now, you pay taxes on the GROSS amount you earn - the total you make. Fair enough. But here, if you were a business in this city, we’re taxing the WHOLE amount you earn AND your NET - what you have left after paying your bills and daily expenses! That’s like a double tax. And our Administration is finally going to address it. We intend to reduce the net income portion of BIRT by more than half to 2.8 percent within 7 years of the pension fund reaching 100% funded status in FY2033.
Over the same time period, we will ELIMINATE the gross receipts portion of the tax ENTIRELY. In the immediate future - and while we face greater uncertainty with our federal funding - we will decrease the net income portion of BIRT from 5.81 percent in FY25 to 5.5 percent in FY30. That said, an existing exclusion of the first $100,000 in gross receipts is going away because of legal challenges to its constitutionality. This is unfortunate, because this exclusion saved thousands of neighborhood-based businesses from even having to file a BIRT return with the city. But we ARE NOT going to turn our backs on these businesses! The Commerce Department is ready to move forward with a new Jumpstart Business Program with $30 million a year in this Five Year Plan that can help impacted businesses with technical assistance and grants. I have to credit the Tax Reform Commission for their signal that JUMPSTARTING businesses and jobs is the overarching goal.
As for the Wage Tax, successive administrations have made small but consistent reductions. This should continue too, and we’ll be restarting reductions in FY26. Our plan reduces the Wage Tax for Philadelphia residents down to 3.7 percent and for Non-Residents to 3.39 percent by FY2030. Folks, this is a BIG DEAL. In fact, no Mayor and City Council have stood together to reduce BOTH sides of the BIRT AND the Wage Tax at the same time in 17 years! These $212 Million in tax reform investments are historic and unprecedented. I am PROUD to stand behind them, and I hope you are too! Now, we’re going to have some naysayers. But this is what we can afford to do. And I shall not be moved on this delicate balance of enacting business tax reform while protecting our fiscal stability as a City.
This proposal will spur businesses to grow and new ones to locate here - allowing our residents more and better opportunities to get a good-paying job. (And that means I hope to see more SEIU and Unite Here jobs being created!) Ask any business what they need: they need certainty. That’s why we’re codifying these historic reductions beyond this Five Year Plan. Don't just listen to what we say, business community. Watch what we do! Philadelphia is open for business, and we welcome you right now! However, business community and Chambers, we have some expectations of you. As I said during my Chamber speech, we need the business community to help us lobby Harrisburg to enact a $15 minimum wage for our Commonwealth. And if that doesn’t appear possible, then stand shoulder to shoulder with me, Council President Johnson and members of this Council in fighting for the Pennsylvania General Assembly to give Philadelphia - as the only first-class city in the Commonwealth -- the authority to enact our own $15 minimum wage. That’s what you can do! We don’t need a letter, or a rally. What I learned from my few years in Harrisburg is that when the business community speaks up, Democrats AND Republicans listen. Philadelphia, the time is now for a $15 Minimum Wage!
MARKET EAST
Now, let’s talk about Market East. After getting through the shock and awe of learning that our 76ers were going to stay in South Philadelphia, no one could deny that this was a good decision for our city. As a matter of fact, it’s a win-win-win - for our city, the Sixers, and Comcast. The new joint venture between Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment and Comcast will lead to a state-of-the art arena and mixed-used development in South Philly - building out that vision for the Battery that I’m so excited about. Closest to my heart, this venture is taking Philly one step closer to having its own WNBA team! And yes, this will help us to revitalize the historic Market Street East corridor. Councilman Squilla knows this is why we’re investing in a planning study to carefully determine our course going forward. And within the next month, I will formally establish the Market East Revitalization Task Force, chaired by Jerry Sweeney. Jerry cannot be with us today - he's got a business to run! But he sends his regards to everyone and he is ALL IN on the assignment! We’ll include representatives from Chinatown and the rest of Center City. It will also include those who own land and property along the corridor, as well as the Sixers and Comcast, who remain committed to revitalizing Market East. As for the new arena in South Philly, we can now leverage all of the work already done - especially how to ensure economic opportunity for local residents and businesses - to make sure this project benefits this city as a whole. These efforts lay the foundation for the next exciting round of work. Chief of Staff Tiffany Thurman, I see you! And I know you are ready for this endeavor.
Pay Fors -- FY26
So how are we paying for all this? The first answer - the biggest answer - is from the dramatic savings we’re going to see from lower pension payments once the pension fund reaches 100 percent funding. But we’re also going to make adjustments in this Proposed Budget and Five Year Plan to make ends meet. First, a small increase to the Realty Transfer Tax will generate $173 million over the next five years. When we need to build or preserve 30,000 units of housing this revenue will help us get there. And don’t forget, we have Philly First Home and Wells Fargo’s NeighborhoodLIFT to help with housing costs and down payments. This plan also proposes increasing the parking rate in Center City from $3 to $4 per hour. This would be the first parking rate increase since 2014 and will provide revenue to both the School District and the City’s General Fund.
And lastly, we’ll increase Housing Trust Fund portion of the document recording fee by $3 and use the revenue to help cover Tangled Title work as part of our housing plan. I don’t take lightly any proposal to raise a fee or tax. And we took no such actions during our first year in office. But I also know we did big, bold things - by working together, thinking creatively, and ACTING decisively. These new revenues and the savings from a healthy Pension Fund will make the big things possible. From housing and fair contracts, to tax reform and wellness, these investments - in the long run - will make our city the safest, cleanest, greenest big city in America with access to economic opportunity for all. Nothing about our vision, goals and objectives have changed. We remain laser-focused on our mission to deliver a government that people can see, touch, and feel.
My name is Cherelle L. Parker and I am the 100th Mayor and first Woman to Lead Philadelphia in 341 years. I’ve proposed this One Philly 2.0 Budget to the City Council of Philadelphia - with historic investments in Public Safety, Clean & Green, Education, Housing, Fair Contracts for City Workers, and Tax Investment and Job Growth - and I approve this message! Today is just the beginning of this process. I’m coming soon to a Neighborhood near you for a Budget or Housing Town Hall! Let’s work together with collaboration, diligence and purpose towards its passage and implementation for Philadelphia. All with a shared goal: A Safer, Cleaner and Greener City, with Access to Economic Opportunity for All. Together, I pray and believe, we are One Philly, a United City. Thank you!
End