New Leadership. New Direction. A New Philadelphia.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 17, 2007

CONTACT: Melanie Johnson
(215) 545-9700
(267) 984-2027 cell
melanie@nutter2007.com

NUTTER ANNOUNCES BOLD BUDGET PLAN

Philadelphia, April 17, 2007 —Today, Democratic Candidate for Mayor Michael Nutter released his budget plan for the future of Philadelphia. Nutter outlined his plan to make the city’s budget process more transparent and inclusive. He is the first candidate to show how he would pay for the new initiatives proposed in his ten policy papers – including putting 500 more police on the streets.

Nutter challenged the other mayoral candidates to outline their spending proposals and to say how they would pay for them. He declared, “It’s time to down the policy papers and pick up the sharp pencils.”

Nutter referenced PICA’s (Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority) report last year on the economy of Philadelphia. “The next Mayor will have to submit a budget within months of taking office,” he said. “According to PICA, the general fund’s balance will have dropped approximately $130 million and by FY09 the cost of the City’s debt will be roughly $50 million higher than it was in last year. The budget I released will be an important first step towards sheparding the City back into fiscal health.”

As Mayor, Nutter will:

• Convene the stakeholders in an honest and cooperative effort to redesign the pension and health benefits for City employees in order to make them sustainable for all concerned.
• Design a policy for issuing new municipal debt and stick to it.
• Reform the process by which the City budget is devised and debated in order to achieve greater levels of public participation and government performance.
• Present realistic estimates of the costs and funding sources of new proposals, starting with those I am making in this campaign.

“As Mayor of the City of Philadelphia I will base my budgets on a realistic estimate of future revenues and actual costs,” said Nutter. “I will revolutionize the budget process by putting the focus on outputs not inputs. I promise to lead Philadelphia with a new spirit of progressive reform and open-decision-making.”

###

Last Updated: April 20, 2007