You state in your testimony that an additional $3 million will go to improving City health centers, and the more appropriate time to discuss this in great detail will be when the operational departments come before us, but there's clear evidence that there's an underutilization of CHIP. Have you decided yet how those dollars 67 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 will be allocated, that 3.8 million? Is that to hire more benefits counselors or what? What is that? That's $3 million annually to the City health centers.
Councilmember, it is both for staff to rebuild the infrastructure and to augment the infracture. That staff is being discussed internally as to exactly where that would go. The doctor is here.
Thank you for the question on CHIP. We currently have benefits counselors in each of the health centers, as mentioned. They have information on CHIP. The question is beyond CHIP. So what will we do beyond CHIP to notify. The $3 million builds infrastructure in the health centers particularly around delivery of services. So if we can get more people in, particularly children, the hope is that they will have access to the benefits 68 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 counselors. The other thing that we'll do, although not specifically with the $3 million, is work with the benefits counselors at the other pediatric facilities in town so that we actually have a network of counselors for the first time that are looking for children who will be eligible for CHIP. Obviously all of that is contingent on the federal budget and what happens ultimately with the CHIP dollars.
Okay. I have a subsequent question on that, but I'll save it for operations hearings. Office of Arts and Culture, can you speak to the status of it and/or whether or not you've had an opportunity to really think through strategically what its role is going to be?
The current status is that we have been actively seeking someone to lead that operation. We have not as of yet settled on a 69 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 candidate. With respect to the strategic thinking about it, obviously the strategic thinking about it will be more informed to the extent that we have somebody who is actually here to help us think about it. I think we've been close a couple of times and we have not been able to get people signed up, but I think we are still actively seeking to have someone in that capacity, at which time we will sit down and think strategically about how we want to utilize arts and culture as a significant economic development engine here in the City. (Bell rung.)
Thank you. I would just like to ask a few questions at this time. Under Public Safety, you mention in the Plan that the 70 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 Police Department will have an additional 400 officers on the street through additional funding and redeployment. The Plan only includes 200 additional officers in 2009 and no new officers for the balance of the five years. Is that correct, and can you tell us how the additional funding from the state is being handled and are those officers included in the figure of 6,824 that we presently have?
Yes, Councilwoman. If you'll recall, when the Police Commissioner revealed his Crime Plan, he indicated that by May 1 that he would get through redeployment primarily 200 additional officers. That would include a new class, I think, that was coming online sometime in April of about 100, maybe about 100 officers or so. So 200 of the 400 officers that we identify in the Plan relate to the Commissioner's Crime Plan, and we hope to have those on the street by May 1. 71 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 The additional 200 officers that are referred to in the Plan and for which funding is provided is the $78 million that we've put in the Plan, and we hope -- and it is our expectation that we will be able to bring in additional classes and other new officers the additional 200 from that $78 million that's identified in the Plan, and we hope to have those in place by the end of Fiscal Year 2009.
The state funding will help support some of those officers, that's correct.
All right. In the information provided, you state that the Fire Department will receive additional funding of $3.8 million for emergency medical services. I'm having a difficult time understanding this because in Appendix 2, , it shows that you have cut the Fire 72 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 Department by $1.2 million in Class 100 in FY08. Can you explain why you are cutting their current budget? Is the calculation of $3.8 million from their adopted FY08 budget or from the target budget?
I'll answer the first part of your question first and then the second part second. The reason the spending for this year is lower than -- that we project the spending to be lower is based on just how much had been spent through the first half of the year but before we got here and our ability to then staff up during the second half of the year, and we do base the increase off the estimated obligations for '08.
Well, we are. We're spending more in the second half than we're spending in the first half, but we're just basing it off where we 73 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 were and hiring schedules. That's really how we're getting to the '08 number.
Wait a minute. Weren't we promised more employees for EMS?
And when will they come on? Is there an existing list that they will be taken from? (Witness approached witness table.)
Good morning, Commissioner. Please identify yourself for the record. COMMISSIONER AYERS: Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers. Good morning, Council President.
Good morning. COMMISSIONER AYERS: We just started a class this morning -- excuse 74 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 me; on Monday morning, 90 new firefighters.
I'm sorry. How many? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Ninety firefighter/EMTs, as well mid-March we'll be graduating seven paramedics. Also, we just got our new updated list. We will be putting in another class of paramedics probably May. So we are currently increasing the spending and bringing our complement of personnel up to the allotted budget.
And you hope to have a full complement by the end of this fiscal year? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Minus -- that's right. That's correct.
Thank you. I think, Mr. Dubow, the answer to that question should have been, the prior Administration would not allow us to spend the money that was given to the 75 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 department.
The question that was asked earlier about the Housing Trust Fund, and I think you indicated that there is still a commitment of a million dollars per year?
And I was hoping that the fact that it wasn't on your testimony, that you were entertaining increasing that amount. Is 76 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 that a possibility?
I think as we all acknowledge, this is a deliberative process and many things that we propose might change during the course of this process.
All right. Let me tell you -- and we actually had this conversation to a lesser degree at the briefing with Councilmembers and the Mayor. We appreciate that early-on engagement. The current housing market in the City of Philadelphia is stagnant, at best, and we've actually seen over the last, I guess, the last three or four meetings that we've had with the Housing Trust Fund a decline in the revenue that's being generated as a result of the recording fees per the state law that allows a portion of that to go to the Housing Trust Fund. My concern is that the million dollars that's committed will probably fill that gap in terms of the 77 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 reduction in the current revenue that were being generated, but beyond that, it will not be beneficial to creating affordable housing. It's my understanding based on the federal government's budget that, there again, the Bush Administration is requesting a significant reduction in Block Grant dollars to the cities and the counties across the country. Understanding that, beyond -- and I do want to follow up and ask you about the inclusionary housing proposal that's on the table. Beyond that, is there any discussion about the possibility of creating affordable housing and at least continuing the pace that we've had over the last several years and possibly increasing that?
Councilman, you correctly noted the many challenges and strains on the nation's kind of housing economy right now, and we're all being stretched, as you can imagine. 78 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 We've had the value of housing tax credits falling and then developers are coming back asking for additional resources, and the problem is that it's kind of a vicious cycle that we can't quite seem to get out of and the question really is one of limited resources. I think, as we stated earlier, this is a deliberative process. We made proposals. Those proposals ultimately have to be approved by you. And we can have a discussion, but I think everyone has to recognize that that discussion will have to take place in the context of shrinking resources, and if we give more to housing, that means it's going to be less for something else, and that's a discussion that we certainly can have.
Okay. I just wanted to first acknowledge that I understand that there are limited resources, but there are also priorities in terms of what direction you spend those limited resources in, and 79 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 understanding the significant need for affordable housing, I would like you all -- and you all have committed to take a serious look at possibly creating some opportunities. With respect to the inclusionary housing proposal -- and I don't know if you can answer this question now -- is that, at a minimum, conceptually something that this Administration is supportive of?
Councilman, I'm really not in a position to answer that question at this point, but we'll certainly get back to you on that issue.
We're in the process of the second phase, and one of the reasons why I needed to know that as we move ourselves through this process is that there are going to be in probably the next month a number of initiatives that will be put on the table to provide the cost off-sets associated with the developers' concerns about the cost of 80 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 them doing the affordable units, and probably two of those, maybe three initiatives will in fact be tax-related legislation. So the need to have that in place before the next fiscal year and the end of this budget cycle is upon us is very important. So I would like to be in a position to, at a minimum, engage in --
Because Councilman DiCicco and I met with the heads of the Building Industry Association maybe two weeks ago, and they are prepared to give us a set of recommendations, I think, in mid-March on their cost off-sets as a result of an analysis done by Econsult, and the assumption is that there is going to be probably some costs to the City to entertain those initiatives. So it will be very helpful if you can kind of tee up and be a part of this process before we 81 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 come before you. One other thing real quick before my five minutes run out. I hear that clock ticking over there. The surveillance camera program -- (Bell rung.)
Councilwoman Tasco, did you push that button? (Laughter.)
All right. I'll tee back up. I'll come back. Thank you.
I just want to piggyback off of Councilman Clarke's concern regarding neighborhood economic development, housing development. We started a lot of activity. We did lots of building. We did lots of demolition, and now I feel like we are 82 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 broke and I can't do anything else. So it's really serious, and we still want to continue to rebuild neighborhoods. The waterfront is fine and whatever you guys are doing down here in Center City, that's fine, but we got to continue to rebuild neighborhoods. So I want to have that discussion also.
I think we share the same goal, and as I indicated earlier, one of the exciting things about the Administration is the addition of Andy Altman who, as an avowed planner, isn't concerned about just downtown planning or riverfront planning. He's really concerned about the entire City. So we're very confident and hopeful that with his arrival and the coordinated effort of all of our planning, economic development and housing opportunities, that you'll see a very much coordinated effort that won't be limited to one sector of our economic development and planning activity, that 83 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 it will be a holistic approach. And we're very anxious for his arrival. So we're hopeful that you'll see that.
Well, I do know that he has reached out to Councilmembers to schedule appointments, but when I read, I just feel like something is missing here in this Plan for neighborhood housing development. I heard Council President ask earlier what is the Office of Sustainability, and I keep trying to figure that out, too, as it relates to what do we do now to sustain our neighborhoods. Certainly there is information here about the Commercial Corridor Program, and that's good, but we have all these blocks in the City and in five years we're going to turn around and we're going to be right back where we started from unless we are able to continue to rebuild these neighborhoods.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Kenney. No questions? Thank you. Councilman Green.
Thank you, Madam Chairman. Thanks for coming today. I just have -- I'll try to get as many of my questions I have in the five minutes allotted to me at this time. I have a few. The fund balance, I think the last time we publicly met with Rob and Steve and in several private briefings I had with Rob over the summer, there was discussion that a municipality should have, I think, between eight and 13 percent saved and a fund balance for a 85 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 rainy day, and I note that the Five-Year Plan basically spends our entire fund balance down to $30 million, and given what I read in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times and Philadelphia Inquirer about perhaps a recession coming or much slower growth than we expect, is it prudent to spend down our rainy day fund to less than the amount recommended by PICA previously and in our previous discussions?
I think the points you raise are good and it creates a risk, and in constructing the Plan, we have to look at the trade-offs between making what we think are essential investments and the level of our cushion, but I don't disagree with you that this creates a risk.
I mean, are there harder choices you can make to have -- have we made enough hard choices in this budget?
Okay. It does sort of have the appearance of most department spending as staying the same or going up as running a recession. So let's talk about some of the revenue assumptions. What's behind the wage tax assumptions? And I recognize you're going to give me percentages, but I'm wondering what's behind that. New jobs, new population or just overall increase in wages?
Councilmember, what we've assumed in growth is approximately three and a half percent for Fiscal Year '09, assuming that the national economy continues to grow. There are signs --
Excuse me. Would you please identify yourself for the record.
I'm sorry. Steve Agostini, Budget Director. 87 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 There are signs nationally that there are the beginnings of a recessionary environment. You see job contraction. You see -- the last growth domestic product number that came out for the fourth quarter of the past year was below one percent. So what we have done is assume that on a nominal basis we're going to have some growth of about three and a half percent. That includes what we anticipate about two and a half to three percent inflation for the local economy. Moving forward what we're assuming is about four percent. Again, assuming that what happens nationally based on the Congressional Budget Office assumptions does materialize in terms of nominal growth in the three to four -- three and a half to four and a half percent. If those assumptions change because national trends are changing, then we will -- and we've identified this in the plans -- then we'll have some 88 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 risks to our forecast, but the underlying basis was approximately three and a half percent growth in the wage base and then four percent in subsequent years, even after including what we anticipated would occur after changes to the rates, as you've seen and heard other discussion about.
So it's three and a half percent growth in the wage base. Does that three and a half percent take into account the continuing, although slowing, wage tax decreases?
Yes, it does, Councilmember, but it doesn't include any potential growth that would occur from firms that might relocate here from expansion in jobs. We didn't exactly know how to incorporate that, but that's an upside that is possible here that we haven't taken into account.
And typically has the Philadelphia economy tracked the nominal growth at the federal 89 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 level?
Typically based on the look of the last 30 years, we pretty much grow -- the local economy, that's the boundary of the county, seems to grow by inflation, and we -- inflation plus a half percent, one percent. So, yes, we track. We don't seem to have real bad dips compared to the national economy, but this is a new economy and the last big recession that the United States faced was in 1982. The 2000 and 1991 recessions were relatively mild in terms of historical perspective. So we don't know what we might expect. (Bell rung.)
Okay. Just to try to close a loop on this, you mention the national economy, that we grow at the rate of inflation of the national economy. The rate of inflation is expected to be two and a half percent, I thought you said, but you've assumed a three and a half percent growth. 90 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173
I'm sorry. It's inflation plus a little nominal -- I should say a small amount of real growth. It's not much. The three and a half would assume about two and a half percent -- the three and a half percent growth that we have assumed for '09 fiscal year assumes about three and a half percent growth. Of that, about two and a half percent is inflationary. About one percent of that is real growth. The real growth assumptions for the federal government are about the same.
Okay. That's all my time for now. I have questions about real estate, business privilege, property taxes and the assumptions along those, as well as some other things. I'll get back to you. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Madam Chair. 91 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 Good morning.
I just want to follow up on Councilwoman Brown's questioning about the reopening of the Office of Arts and Culture. Could you tell me how that's going to be budgeted or whose office is going to be responsible for that and how many employees, if you know, are going to be responsible for running that office?
Much like the Office of Sustainability, we're going to look to rely on significant resources that are currently within the government. We have allotted or allocated, I think, one new position, but the plan would be to try to, again, husband existing resources that are in and around the City to comprise the office, and we would expect that with a more coordinated concentrated effort, to really be able to bring about the kind of policy results that we'd like to have in that office. 92 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 So I think the plan is that we have one budgeted new position, but the greater plan is to make sure that we find the existing resources within the government and bring those into a coordinated fashion.
We're going to have to go out and make sure that we identify where they are. We think that there are currently either positions or functions, at least people doing part-time or some people in other instances doing full-time some of the work that we can bring together, and we're going to help, with the Director, identify what those resources are.
Okay. Well, this isn't the time, I guess, to get into the responsibilities of people running that office. We'll do that during the budget, I guess, but could you tell me a little bit about the Office of 93 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 Sustainability, what they're responsible for?
The Office of Sustainability will help us reach one of our goals, which is to have a greener and livable city, to make sure that the government is focused on long-term, sustainable, renewable energy sources and making sure that the government operates in a way that is green. We also want to make sure that it's involved in helping us take advantage of what is emerging as the green economy, in which there are jobs being created in that economy that are not jobs that will necessarily leave the region, that will be retained here. So it's going to have a very wide platform and area of responsibility.
I see. Since you're creating an Office of Sustainability, you have an Office of Transportation, you have an Office of Business Services, as well as reopening 94 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 the Office of Arts and Culture. The people who are going to be responsible for these offices, are they current employees now, just being reassigned into those different departments, or are you going to be looking for new people to take over those departments?
It depends on the office. In some of the offices that you've identified; for example, in Transportation, I think it's probably fair to say they're existing resources within the government that we would -- because there used to be a Transportation Office here before it was disbanded that we would recreate. There were no 18 additional budgeted resources for creating that office. We were just going to reform that office, in effect. As I mentioned earlier, we do have one position in for the Office of Sustainability and I think one position in for the Office of Arts and Culture. And it's possible that the individual 95 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 that can fulfill that office might be in the government, but it's also possible that we might go outside.
And who is really going to be responsible for it? Is it the Managing Director's Office? Are all of these offices going to come under the Managing Director's Office?
No. The Office of Transportation -- and I was just advised by the Budget Director I misspoke on one response with respect to Transportation. There is $500,000 in the budget for the Office of Transportation.
Five hundred thousand dollars that's included. So I misspoke on that.
That's included in this budget? 96 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173
Yes, sir. And your question again? I'm sorry. I lost my train of thought.
Oh, the reporting requirements, right. The various reporting responsibilities will be either between the Mayor's Office or some other respective Deputy Mayor. So, for example, the Office of Sustainability is likely to be found in the Commerce Department. The Office of Transportation will be under the auspices of the Deputy Mayor for Utilities, Rina Cutler, and the Office of Arts and Culture will probably be in the Commerce Department. (Bell rung.)
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilman DiCicco. 97 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Thank you, Madam Chair. And good morning.
Good morning. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Councilwoman Miller mentioned something earlier about development along the waterfront. Just for the record, there are probably a dozen projects that we've worked on that have been approved, but there is no development happening on the waterfront as well. There are two potential developments that would like to occur there, and if you'd like one, again, I offer it, either one of them, for your consideration and be glad to have a meeting with you. Speaking of casinos, in your Five-Year Plan -- I think I had asked this before. I thought the answer was that you did not have any gaming revenues built into the Five-Year Plan.
We have revenue beginning in 2010. So we assume that 98 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 revenue will start coming in in January 2010. We moved it back a year from where it was in last year's Plan. So there's no money in the '09 budget, but there is money in the Plan. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: So if it's for '10 --
Two years from now. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Which is about a two-year buildout. So what happens if the casino construction does not begin according to your timeline? Because the way I see it, it almost means that you would almost have to be under construction now, because it's about roughly a two-year buildout for casinos.
Right. We don't have the full amount. We assume some ramp-up. There's only, I think, about --
It's less than half a year. I think it's approximately 9.6 million.
So eventually you get up into the high 20's. We have about 99 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 $9 million. So we're really assuming about a third of that year. But to get to your question, if it's delayed, then that amount of revenue will go down. It will keep getting pushed back. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: That's my point. I mean, I think I asked the question of the Foxwoods folks yesterday how long -- they will not have a temporary facility. They're going to have a full-blown slots parlor, when and if they get to build. I think their answer was to months. So it's two 15 months shy. If they start today, they 16 would be two months shy of your 2010 17 projections. 18
If they start 19 today, they'd be a couple of months 20 before, because we're talking -- if we 21 have a third of the year, we're talking 22 starting April 1st. But I understand your point. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Isn't it somewhat presumptuous to have those 100 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 numbers in your Plan when they have not even gotten approvals to start construction? And I'm not being critical. I'm just -- I expect that we'll have casinos in Philadelphia. I mean, I've said that publicly and I'll continue to say it. I just don't know when.
Right. Well, obviously we don't know when either and we were taking our best estimate. But you're right, it could be later than that. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: I mean, I can't imagine anything happening in terms of construction, at best, at the very least, six months out from today, and that may be an ambitious schedule.
So that would wind up -- and then we'd have to reduce the revenue. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: You'd be in 2011.
Right. Then we'd 101 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 have to move some of those revenues out of the Plan. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: I thought you knew something I didn't know. I'm just trying to get to that. Councilman Greenlee mentioned something about the parking tax. At that briefing we did a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that there are a number of parking lots that are managed by companies that do not take credit cards, they only deal in cash. I just want to remind you that I think we need to look at that, because I suspect that a lot of those revenues from parking we haven't been receiving, and we'll continue not to receive it unless we look into that. And also as a reminder -- and I'm not sure if it's still happening in the stadium district. It was a major problem a few years ago, which I brought to the Street Administration's attention, where private companies were using their parking lots for overflow parking for 102 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 stadium events, sports events, and at that time, we were getting zero from those establishments. Some sort of enforcement measures were taking place at that time. I just want to, again, bring it to your attention. I think it's worth looking at again. I mean, we're talking significant numbers.
You're right, Councilman DiCicco. I do recall that conversation, and certainly we will have the Deputy Mayor for Transportation and Utilities, Rina Cutler, look into those very issues. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: I think that was all. Thank you, Madam President. I don't have any more questions. Thank you.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown. 103 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173
Thank you, Madam President. Mention was made of the Administration's intent to follow through on the recommendations of the DHS report. Where does the Administration stand with the Blue Ribbon Commission report, which for a year professionals of all stripes met and representing all levels and continuum of service? Where are you all with a look-see at that report and a roll-out or execution of any of those recommendations? (Witness approaching witness table.)
If you could just update us or let us know where the Administration stands with regards to the recommendations that were cited in the Blue Ribbon Commission report, that would be helpful. 104 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173
Dr. Arthur C. Evans, Director for the Department of Behavioral Health and Mental Retardation Services and also Acting Commissioner for the Department of Human Services. Councilwoman, as you probably know, several things happened after the issuance of the Blue Ribbon Commission report on children's behavioral health. The first was the establishment of something called the Leadership Council, which is co-chaired by myself and Administrative Judge Kevin Dougherty. That group continues to meet. In fact, we have a meeting coming up in the next couple of weeks. That is a group of people in government who are charged with ensuring that the recommendations move forward. In addition to that, there is a group of community advocates, providers, a broad cross-section of people that continue to meet on a monthly basis. Again, a meeting is coming up in the next 105 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 several weeks, and that group is charged with having the community oversight over the process. In terms of specific things that have been accomplished, the number one priority of the group after the report was issued was the building of community supports for children. In particular, there was a great concern amongst all of us that this City relies too heavily on residential care for children. Many of those children are outside of Philadelphia. They're outside of the state. And so there are a couple of projects that we've started. Just to give you a couple of examples, one of them is that we are -- we have a joint project that was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to transition kids who are aging out of the child welfare system and who are in residential care, to bring those children back to the community. We've identified -- we're working with 23 children currently to 106 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 wrap services around them, bring them back to the community. But the long-term goal is to institutionalize those services that we wrap around those children.
That work -- well, it wasn't a grant per se. What it was was technical assistance. We were one of four jurisdictions around the country that received technical assistance from the Robert Wood Johnson to do this work. We also just submitted a System of Care grant to the federal government working with the State of Pennsylvania to do similar work. So there are a number of things that we're doing. We have increased the use of evidence-based practices, such as functional family therapy, which is a practice that we can use to keep children in their own home and treat them in the community. 107 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 So that's an example of the kinds of things that we're continuing to do.
So one can presume from that that there is a commitment to continue to make happen the recommendations that have been cited?
I think there's a strong commitment. Dr. Donald Schwarz, who is the Deputy Mayor for Health and Opportunity, is a pediatrician and has a very strong commitment to seeing that the recommendations go forward.
Okay. Thank you for your testimony. Could someone speak to -- there was some discussion about a review of the workforce development agencies. Briefly talk about what that is, what that means, and do you intend to report back to Council and let us know what your recommendations are?
Yes. I think I may have mentioned that earlier. The 108 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 Administration is about to begin a serious review of all of our workforce development activities to try to better streamline them and coordinate them and make sure that we get a better bang for our buck, so to speak. We will be reporting back to the Council. We're not sure where the recommendations may lead us. Some may require some Council approval, but we will report back to you on that activity.
Okay. You reference the Brookings report and you say how Philadelphians pay more in taxes as opposed to Camden or Boston. So can you cite where does Philly stack up with regards to those other cities?
We can tell you also that every year Washington, DC does a comparative of the largest city in each 109 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 state and looks at their tax burden, and Philadelphia consistently comes in in the top two or three, depending on the income level you look at.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Sanchez.
I'm going to attempt to use my time wisely since some of the questions were asked already, but I wanted to go on record as it relates to the Cohen tax. My understanding from this tax cut, that it is targeted more at working families who live on the margin, and with an acknowledged rate of percent of our 23 citizens in poverty, I am not satisfied 24 that we're presenting a budget where we 25 are more aggressive in our business tax 110 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 cuts and then at the same time eliminating this. So that I'm not satisfied with. With relation to the Housing Trust Fund, going back to Councilman Clarke mentioned this, we're going to be experiencing some massive CDBG cuts in our budget, in our federal budget, and that's going to continue to decrease as we continue to spend $10 billion in this war a month. A million dollars is not enough. So just that said. It's just not going to be adequate. When we've spent so many millions of dollars, in the case of the 7th Councilmanic where we spent $14 million, most of it in demolition, we have nothing to work in terms of how do we rebuild the 20,000 vacant properties and lots that we have in the 7th. As it relates to the healthcare piece -- I don't know if you want to respond to that before I keep going. I'll try to use my five minutes wisely 111 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 and get on the record here. As it relates to the healthcare increase, I think it's important, and we haven't done the best job possible, in coordinating with some of our private non-profits who do a lot of preventive health services. So I would encourage the Administration and Dr. Schwarz to meet with some of these folks as we look at where we're going to make our healthcare center investments so that it's complementary to some of the things that are already going on in the area. I don't know if this question was answered. The Office of Arts and Culture, where is it going to fall? Is it going to be in the Mayor's Office? Is it going to be in Commerce?
We've kind of gone back and forth. It will probably reside in the Mayor's Office, but it will have a very strong connection to the Commerce Department, because we view it as principally an economic development 112 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 opportunity for us. But it will organizationally reside in the Mayor's Office.
Will it have the power to oversee how we spend our current money as it relates to marketing the City, the money that we can give to Greater Marketing Tourism, or are we just creating a position and not giving this person the authority to look at where we're putting our money with these private non-profits and other stakeholders?
Clearly, we're not in the business of creating positions just to create positions. We think that once created, the office will have the requisite authority it needs to fulfill its mission. With respect to marketing, if you mean broad marketing of the City, I believe that that function is primarily rested in the Office of the City Representative, and particularly you will 113 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 have a Charter change provision before you to consider that. Obviously the City Representative, the Office of Arts and Culture and other offices around the City that work in marketing the City will all coordinate. One of the things that we are very committed to in this Administration is the coordination of efforts. People may have defined responsibilities as to job titles, but everybody is responsible ultimately for marketing the City, and we want to make sure that those agencies that have a piece of that are all working together, working on the same page, and the City Representative in her current capacity is working to a great extent to make sure that that happens. And we would think that when the Office of Arts and Culture is in fact created and staffed, that they will work with the City Representative and get that done.
My interest is to making sure that we're 114 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 maximizing how we market our neighborhoods and some of the attributes, that we have some of the ethnic attributes in our neighborhood. So I don't want it to get lost --
-- in the shuffle. In your projections, you look at a percent revenue increase in real 12 estate growth. What are you basing this 13 on? Reassessments? For the budget, your 14 Plan. 15
No. It assumes 23 that if full value is put in place, it will be revenue neutral.
Okay. 115 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 In light of the Safe and Sound situation, when you talk about a $5 million increase, is that $5 million that we're getting from our needs assessment from the state or is the City making a $5 million commitment out of our general operating?
So that's not state pass-through? We're not saying we're looking to get --
And then that's going to be coordinated as it relates to some of those activities. Because we just cut parent truancy officers and some of these other elements that are part of our youth violence 116 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 prevention strategy. Does that mean we're going to reentertain how we use and how we do some of those prevention services?
I think the final determination as to whether or not any of those activities are, as you refer to it, reinstituted will be a function of how people evaluate their effectiveness, and we would leave those determinations to the policymakers to look at the effectiveness and make sure that those investments are appropriately made where programs are in fact effective. (Bell rung.)
Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. 117 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 I actually just want to continue the discussion about the YVRP funding. Thank you for the $5 million. I actually think that that's really a good program. But two questions. In light of the fact that there are nine police districts that are, I'll call them, at the priority level because of increasing crime, will any of those -- I don't know whether the 24th or the 25th is one of the nine. I'm just thinking about the three police districts that are in my district that are not on this list to be included for YVRP, and I'm sure -- I don't have the breakdown of the ages of the people that are committing the crime, but I'm sure many of them are between the ages of 15 and 24. Are we thinking about providing services, additional services, as needed and maybe YVRP services that are needed in the 14th, 39th and 35th Police Districts?
Point of 118 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 information, Madam President. Madam President, point of information.
The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown for a point of information.
Yes. To your question, Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller, that's why I put on the record the value and use of the Children's Report Card, because it's data driven. It's current data driven, and it speaks to either the police districts or the councilmanic districts, and some of that information might be found in there.
Right. Councilwoman Miller, the program, as you know, currently operates in the 12th, 9th, 24th and 25th Police Districts. 119 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 Certainly -- and it's considered to be a highly effective program, and I think it's fair to say that those who will be evaluating where to target the investment of this additional resources will certainly look at the other districts around the City to make sure that we can get the highest return for the investment. So I would assume that the districts that you mentioned, I guess the three in your councilmanic district, will certainly be considered, but I can't assure you at this point that they would in fact be included in that program, but they would certainly be considered in the expansion.
Excuse me. The Chair recognizes Councilman 120 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 Goode for a point of information.
Excuse me, Councilwoman. Just real quickly, I was going to raise this a couple other times that the YVRP issue came up. Under the last Administration under a series of questioning in a number of different hearings, the Director of Social Services eventually had to admit that while the program is highly effective, it was not necessarily targeting the most at risk, and their judgment of what was most at risk really was a matter of layering social services to the same clients. In other words, a lot of what they decided to do was client driven, which from their standpoint made a lot of sense, but it was not necessarily data driven. And so my question in following up is, regardless of whether we're talking about police districts or whether we're talking about targeting areas of the City, at the end of the day if the 121 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 end purpose of the program is to deal with the most at risk, are we going to use a data-driven approach to make sure we're actually finding those that are most at risk as opposed to just trying to layer services to those who are already in the system? I'm assuming that the most at risk are in the system, but that doesn't mean that the program is actually targeting them.
I think it's fair to say that certainly under this Administration we're going to be data driven. Under the direction of the Managing Director, who has already started our PhillyStat meetings, the Administration is working very hard to try to identify the data that drives our policies, that drive the results that we are trying to achieve, and I think it 122 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 would be fair to say that the investments that we intend to make with the resources that you all will provide to us will be made in the most effective manner based on the data that we have. Everybody may not agree on the data, but the results and the decisions will be made with respect to data at some point.
Well, the reason that I asked about expansion is because those three police districts that I name are three of the nine police districts that have escalated in crime, and as I said, I'm sure some of those folks that are committing those crimes are young people. And given the fact that the Beacon centers are no longer operating in the evenings and that's where a lot of -- that's the time that the Beacon centers -- and I want to say that, and I don't know whether it's across the board, but all the calls that I've received, it pretty much sounds like the evening programs have been 123 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 eliminated. Is that not true?
That is incorrect. The Beacon programs that included after-school programs have been retained. The Beacon programs that went beyond after school, those activities beyond the after-school in ten of the Beacon sites have been curtailed, as far as I understand.
Say that again, please. I know the after-school has been maintained.
The Beacon programs where there are after-school programs, where there are after-school programs, the after-school programs have been retained, as far as I understand. The programs that went beyond the after-school activities in ten of the programs, as I understand it, were in fact eliminated, but I can certainly confirm that with the --
Because you're saying that ten of the Beacons 124 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 will no longer have evening activities? Is that what you're saying? Because I got a call on Friday from a person that has four Beacons that will no longer have evening activities, which will actually put hundreds of young people back on the streets of Philadelphia. (Witness approached witness table.)
Don Schwartz. Councilwoman, as you know, this has been a confusing issue.
We met with providers yesterday and are discussing with Safe and Sound the best way to deal with what are called the family preservation, which were the evening and weekend programs. There will likely be some reduction in funding. The question as to whether the ten centers that were identified will take all of that reduction is not yet entirely clear, but we expect to have an answer for you by 125 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 tomorrow. Part of the issue has to do with what information is available to us from Safe and Sound.
Okay. That's good. Because, I mean, I know that originally you gave us a list of ten, but then these folks that called me on Friday are outside of that ten. But I would appreciate the information tomorrow when you get it. (Bell rung.)
Council President, some of my time was taken up by Councilwoman Brown and Councilman Goode.
No. 25 We did add -- 126 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173
They wanted these points of information. So I really only got --
If I may, I would just like to ask a question here. On , you mention that the state has $94.7 million in its 2009 budget for wage tax reductions in Philadelphia, and that is not reflected in the Plan. If we do receive these funds from the state, how will the wage tax be reduced?
If we receive that funding, the wage tax would actually -- the resident wage tax rate would actually go below 3.9 percent in '09 and it would 127 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 reach 3.5391 by 2013, and for the non-resident rate, it would go to 3.48 percent in '09 and down to 3.11 percent in 2013.
Will Council have to pass an ordinance, and if so, what would be the timing of this?
Council would have to pass an ordinance. We will find out the final numbers in April. So we would get an ordinance to you then.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Goode.
Getting back 128 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 to the issue of economic development, within the Five-Year Plan on , one of the goals is to improve the performance of the Commercial Corridors Program. Can you explain what that means?
What we'd like to do is to take the Commercial Corridors Program that has been in existence heretofore to ensure that the funding that we're going to provide to it actually results in enhanced activity on those commercial corridors. Under the Commerce Department, when we have the person who is going to be in charge of the business services, we hope to make sure that this is one of the focuses of that activity and to make sure that those services are brought to the commercial corridors in a way that they haven't been before.
As part of that, when the Commercial Corridor Bond was presented and floated, included in it 129 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 was the Philadelphia Small Business Loan Guarantee Program. The authorization for that program came from the Commercial Corridor Bond, and in previous Five-Year Plans when the Commercial Corridor Program was discussed, that Small Business Loan Guarantee Program, which is a pet project of mine, was included. I don't care whether it's included as part of the Commercial Corridor Bond Program or included elsewhere, but what is the status of the Small Business Loan Guarantee Program?
Hi. I'm Terry Gillen. I'm Senior Advisor to the Mayor. Councilman, are you referring to the program that's in PCDC?
There was a Small Business Loan Guarantee Program, and Council had a series of hearings around small business lending. There was 130 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 a task force developed by the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition and had a series of recommendations. One was for a Small Business Loan Guarantee Program. That concept was included within the Commercial Corridor Bond Program and there was supposed to be a line of credit for $5 million established, and through past testimony hearings, there was supposed to be an RFP put out for oversight of that program through the Neighborhood Transformation Office.
Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah. Yes, I'm familiar with that, and we are -- as part of the rethinking of the Commercial Corridor Program that Clay referred to, we're trying to decide whether to park that, frankly, in the Commerce Department or to pull in some of the commercial corridor programs that NTI has been running and that PCDC has been running and whether to combine them all in the Commerce Department. So we 131 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 haven't moved ahead with it for that reason, but I'm familiar with what you're talking about now.
As I said, I'm not really concerned where it's placed, whether it's in Commerce or whether it's under NTI or where it's at. I'm just more concerned with the status of the program.
Because the program was actually about seven years in the making.
And we thought we had some movement last year, and what we were told last fall, that an actual RFP was being put out, but, of course, in the transition of the Administration, I want to make sure that the Small Business Loan Guarantee Fund is a priority.
Yes. We understand that it is a priority and 132 2/26/08 - WHOLE - RES. 080173 we'll be moving on it, and the reason you haven't heard of anything, it's just because we're rethinking the whole commercial corridor piece.
But part of the concern, too, was that it was dropped from the Five-Year Plan. It was in previous Five-Year Plans.
Was there a particular amount that was supposed to be put in?