Reducing trash pickup “on the table” as a budget cutting move

Mayor Nutter says your trash is safe for now. But he acknowledged that the city is considering reducing trash pickup as part of its massive cost-cutting effort. At a budget meeting yesterday, city officials floated a number of potentially controversial ideas, including closing homeless shelters and health centers. Today Nutter asked citizens not to jump to conclusions.

Nutter: “I want to encourage everyone to get used to hearing about all kinds of different ideas and scenarios that are nothing more than ideas and scenarios. No decisions have been made.”

Nutter says the city’s plans won’t be finalized until his next budget is released in March. But he also warned that with the city facing an estimated $1 billion deficit, hard choices will be inevitable. For now, instead of closing libraries, the mayor says the city will keep all branches open for as many hours as possible by shuffling staff. Nutter wouldn’t promise that all 53 branches would be open next year.

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As the mayor and his top officials discuss various proposals to close a billion dollar, 5-year budget gap, we want you to be thinking of alternatives. What is your reaction to ideas like “pay as you throw” and other controversial ideas. Many of these ideas rank among “best practices” and have been shown to be effective in other cities. Can best practices work in Philadelphia? What would it take in terms of communication and public education? Let us know in the comments section or share your thoughts (in a 140 characters or less!) at our Twitter feed.