Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter now says we’re in for another round of blood letting. At a mid-morning budget update the mayor says he’s going to have to cut another $1 billion-dollars over the next five years.”

The first billion dollar deficit required many painful choices. This second billion dollar deficit will require drastic choices to be made throughout our city government.

So for clarity sake: things are twice as bad as we thought in November but as of today the city’s budget deficit is still just $1 billion.

Here’s why. recent cuts have lowered city spending enough to eliminate the first projected budget gap.

We would only have a $2 billion dollar deficit if the city suddenly decided to scrap the recent budget cuts when the new fiscal year begins on July 1, 2009, then we would have $2 billion dollars to slash. The mayor’s office assured me the current cuts will remain in place.

So where are the cuts going to come from?

Well, it will ultimately be city council and the mayor who decide where the ax falls.

But the mayor says he wants to gauge public opinion before announcing the cuts that will be included in his budget, which he will unveil on March 19th.

Roaming mayor

Nutter says he’ll be fanning out into the neighborhoods “Whether it’s at kitchen table discussions or meetings with civic groups. I’ll visit neighborhood businesses and sometimes even have these discussions literally right out on the street.”

Public meetings

In addition, the city has asked Penn Project for Civic Engagement to lead four public gatherings where citizens will break out into small groups and decide which city departments they think deserve the most money.

Useful links:

Downloadable MP3 of Nutter’s budget update

Transcript of Nutter’s budget update

Video of Nutter’s budget update

Budget FAQ’s from the mayor’s office