CITY COUNCIL APPROVES FY2024 BUDGET, WITH FOCUS ON WORKER RECRUITMENT & RETENTION, QUALITY OF LIFE, PUBLIC SAFETY & CONTINUED WAGE & BUSINESS TAX REDUCTION
PHILADELPHIA, June 22 – With a focus on recruiting and retaining city workers, improving quality of life in neighborhoods, public safety and violence prevention, and a commitment to ongoing wage and business tax reductions to spur equitable growth, City Council today gave final approval to a $6.2 Billion city budget for Fiscal 2024, which starts on July 1. The budget bill now heads to Mayor Kenney, who is expected to sign it into law.
Here are highlights of the budget approved by Council today. For more highlights, see the FY2024 Budget Summary document produced by Council’s technical staff.
WORKFORCE RETENTION & ATTRACTION
PHILADELPHIA, June 22 – With a focus on recruiting and retaining city workers, improving quality of life in neighborhoods, public safety and violence prevention, and a commitment to ongoing wage and business tax reductions to spur equitable growth, City Council today gave final approval to a $6.2 Billion city budget for Fiscal 2024, which starts on July 1. The budget bill now heads to Mayor Kenney, who is expected to sign it into law.
Here are highlights of the budget approved by Council today. For more highlights, see the FY2024 Budget Summary document produced by Council’s technical staff.
WORKFORCE RETENTION & ATTRACTION
Hiring Bonuses. $10 Million in hiring bonuses to fill vacancies in public safety and other hard-to-fill city positions – a problem that has grown since the pandemic. Council heard testimony in budget hearings of widespread vacancies in the Police Department, Prisons, and other departments.
Police Recruitment & Cadet Training. Adding $3 Million for recruitment of Police Officers, and $1.5 Million in existing funds for the Police Cadet program. The budget added $14.7 million over five years to further develop a forensics laboratory to help solve crimes.
Parental Leave. $2.1 Million to increase parental leave for city workers from 4 weeks to 6 weeks, an issue associated with recruiting and retaining workers.
Workforce Development. $5 Million to fund a workforce development program in the Streets Department for workers. An additional $6 Million added for workforce development scholarships for various city departments and workers.
QUALITY OF LIFE IN NEIGHBORHOODS
Illegal Dumping. $9 Million in additional funds to fight illegal dumping in neighborhoods – funding for new positions and crews in the Streets Department.
Vacant Lots. $3.89 Million to have the PA Horticultural Society clean more lots.
Same Day Pay. $6 Million to expand Same Day Pay, a program run jointly by non-profit organizations with city input that puts people to work cleaning and greening city neighborhoods, with an emphasis on hiring returning citizens.
Cleaning up Neighborhood Business Corridors. Expanded to $10 Million the budget for an existing program, Taking Care of Business, that cleans up neighborhood business corridors, as well as employing workers at a living wage.
Code Enforcement in Licenses & Inspections and Law. Additional $1 Million to help L & I add more inspectors to help with code enforcement of buildings – a chronic problem in many neighborhoods. Added $560,000 to help Law add 8 attorneys to enforce the laws against illegal construction.
Investing in Recreation Centers. $15 Million in capital spending to upgrade and improve recreation centers in neighborhoods across Philadelphia.
Office of Sustainability. $1 Million added to this Office to promote environmental justice and climate change initiatives.
PUBLIC SAFETY
Mental Health Crisis Response Teams. $3 Million more for Mobile crisis response teams equipped to assist Police in responding to 911 calls where mental health problems are indicated. The city currently budgets $6 million for these teams.
Public Safety Cameras. $1.4 Million to add more cameras to safeguard neighborhood rec centers and playgrounds and to combat illegal dumping
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
PowerCorps. An additional $500,000 for PowerCorpsPHL, an AmeriCorps program that trains young people to work in the green economy and urban farming. “The needs of our citizens and residents are great, and City Council is doing what it always does – stepping up to the plate to fund programs it believes are best able to serve citizens and improve quality of life,” said Council President Darrell L. Clarke, presiding over his final budget as Council President after 12 years at the helm.
“This process is difficult but vital to the operations of the city,” said Council Majority Leader Curtis Jones Jr. (4th District). “We thank the Kenney Administration and members of Council for figuring out mutually what our city needs to prosper.”
TAX RELIEF
Continuing an effort from last year, a consensus of Councilmembers supported incremental reductions in the city’s Wage and Business Income & Receipts Taxes that are slightly more than the reductions already proposed by Mayor Kenney.
The Wage tax on residents will decrease from 3.79 percent down to 3.75 percent. The net income portion of BIRT will decline from its current 5.99 percent to 5.81 percent. The original reductions proposed by Mayor Kenney would provide $150 million in tax relief over the Five-Year Plan; the additional tax cuts voted by Council today will provide another $24.1 million in relief over the Five-Year Plan. The added reductions were championed by At Large Councilmembers Katherine Gilmore Richardson and Isaiah Thomas.
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