A Town Hall meeting titled “Tight Times, Tough Choices” will be taped tonight at WHYY that is designed to give Pennsylvania residents a better understanding of the State’s fiscal health.  Citizens will gather at WHYY to learn what options the Commonwealth is considering to reduce next year’s budget by $2.6 billion.  On February 4, Governor [...]

The Philadelphia City Solicitor says elected officials can participate in the controversial Deferred Retirement Option Program. Shelly Smith says the DROP does not distinguish between city workers and elected officials.  This means there is nothing legally wrong with Philadelphia City Council members enrolling in the retirement program.
Elected officials who are in DROP benefit more than [...]

In an effort to reach a compromise with Mayor Michael Nutter, the Philadelphia City Council has proposed an alternative tax plan that would eliminate the need for a property tax hike. City Council leaders issued a statement today explaining how their plan could work.
“We understand that the double-digit property tax increase proposed by the Administration [...]

I thought the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was facing an economic crisis.
In the past two months, the PA’s projected budget shortfall for next year jumped $300 million to a whooping total of $2.6 billion.
So, when the Governor Ed Rendell pledged an additional $50,000 in state money towards the bike race planned for Manayunk, I was shocked. [...]

Philadelphia Research Initiative Poll (.pdf) as reported today on Philly.com:
Of the 800 respondents, 48 percent said they preferred to receive fewer services but pay no more in taxes, and 35 percent indicated they would rather pay higher taxes and not reduce services.
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Among its other findings, 53 percent of those asked opposed Nutter’s plan to raise [...]

My reaction earlier to the Philadelphia Research Initiative’s latest poll from an email that I sent to folks on our news team:
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And this is why I hate issue based polls:
At the same time, Philadelphians give city officials little guidance about how the budget should be balanced.  Fewer services would mean fewer city workers, but 62 [...]

By Patrick Cobbs
There’s a big fight brewing over taxes in City Hall. Today, City Council moved ahead with its plan to explore whether the city can legally raise the wage tax. Council adopted a resolution that requires City Finance Director Rob Dubow to officially determine if the city’s revenues are down by two-percent or [...]

Over at It’s Our Money, they’re celebrating “pension week,” which, while not quite as exciting as “Shark Week” is still important when it comes to learning how to fend off ravenous eating machines with a sense of entitlement over their realms. In Ben Waxman’s latest post, he takes on the unenviable task of explaining, [...]

Kevin Gillen, a supporter of Philadelphia’s controversial program of providing tax breaks for new construction, said the tax abatement program helps offset the higher construction costs required to build in the city. Gillen spoke this morning on WHYY’s Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane. Gillen, who is on the board of the Building Industry Association in [...]

One of the interesting things that has come out of Philadelphia’s budget crisis is the realization that many of the things that people are most mad about are not always budget busters.
Take for instance, how ticked off people are at the Philadelphia Eagles Team which refuses to pay $8 million the city says is due. [...]