Group Moderators: Kiki Bolender, Benjamin Cromie and Peter Lafferty

City Staff: Patrick Morgan (throughout) with visits from Everett Gillson, Donald Schwarz and Steve Agostini.

Group Overview:
Group 2 started with 16 participants, plus moderators and city staff. Three of the initial 16 citizens left before the session had concluded. The group included 10 male and six female participants. In terms of ethnicity, there were 15 Caucasians and one African American. About half of the group appeared to be more than 40 years of age.

Low Hanging Fruit: (In the order they were selected.)
• No. 1. Administrative: Cut budget by 20 percent - 5 points
o One citizen suggested changing the points from 5 to 6 to preserve revenue collection and procurement, but that idea did not receive enough votes to pass.
o What do consultants (particularly DHS consultants) do for the city and how much do they cost?

• No. 16. Vehicle Fleet: Reduce budget by 20 percent - 6 points
o The city should cut back significantly on take-home cars.
o This should affect administrative staff, including high-ranking fire officials, but not patrol cars or fire trucks.
o Would leasing or PhillyCarShare/ZipCar be a better deal than owning so many vehicles?

• No. 17. Amusement: Raise the Amusement Tax from 5 percent to 6 percent - 2 points
o Required very little discussion.

• No. 20. Eagles: Require the Eagles to pay back rent on Veterans Stadium - 2 points
o Also required little discussion.
o There may be money lost in the court battle, but it is worth it.
o The city is not making money from concessions anymore. Can this be renegotiated?

• No. 9. Law: Reduce budget by 30 percent - 2 points
o The lone dissenter suggested that the city could be vulnerable to law suits and could lose money in the long run.

• No. 26. Wage Tax/Commuter: Increase 0.1 percent to 3.5097 percent - 5 points

• No. 25. Wage Tax/Resident: Increase 0.1 percent to 4.0396 percent - 12 points
o Was added very suddenly to the vote for 26. Wage Tax/Commuter and both passed in a single vote with a large majority.
o One member of the group advocated for progressive taxation.

The following ideas were mentioned, but not chosen, either because they did not receive enough votes, or they were not in the menu of options and therefore, had no point value.

• City Council:
o Should reduce its budget more.
o Not included because they have a separate budget.

• Tax Abatement:
o Wealthy developers in Center City should pay their fair share.

• Drop Program:
o Was met initially with general agreement.
o One person questioned whether the city actually saves any money if they cut the program.

• City Comptroller:
o Use ideas for cost saving.

Renegotiate:
• The city should renegotiate insurance payments for ambulances.

No Way, No How:
• No. 5. Fire: Both cuts (10 percent and 20 percent) - 20 points
o Required little discussion

• No. 11. Police: Both cuts (10 percent and 20 percent) - 52 points
o Participants were concerned that crime could go up during the recession.

• No. 6. Free Library: both cuts (10 percent and 20 percent) - 3 points
Comments:
o Some are day-care centers/dumbed-down.
o It would be painful to lose the (Flagship) Central Library.
o It is unfair that Center City libraries are untouched.

• No. 4. Fairmount Park: Both cuts (20 percent and 30 percent) and No. 14. Recreation: All cuts (10 percent, 20 percent and 30 percent) - 7 points
o Both votes taken together.
o Concern with library cuts; children would have nowhere to go. The group was reminded by another attendee that the libraries had not yet been cut.
o Believed to be too small to be consequential.
o Could be budget generators - receive money from the state for services that would be lost.

• No. 13. Public Health: Both cuts (10 percent and 20 percent) - 7 points
o There was some debate as to whether the nursing home was closed already; it is not.
o One member asserted that the city does not take co-pays, but should.
o Change the computer program for insurance reimbursement - it was believed to be the reason the city does not collect co-pays. (With help from city staff, we determined that the city does, in fact, take co-pays.)
o A few citizens advocated for federal universal health care.

The following ideas were mentioned, but not chosen, either because they did not receive enough votes, or they were not in the menu of options and therefore, had no point value.

• Mayor’s Office of Sustainability: Is important and can save money in the long run.

Shared Pain:
• No. 15. Streets: Revenue option, levy fee for commercial collections - 2 points
o There was considerable debate about whether to choose the “pay-as-you-throw” revenue option. There were concerns about enforcement, particularly in condominiums.
o There was passion from one attendee (and agreement from others) behind the concern about how people throw away too much garbage(!)

The following ideas were mentioned, but not chosen, either because they did not receive enough votes, or they were not in the menu of options and therefore, had no point value.

• No. 13. Prisons:
o Sixty percent of inmates are awaiting trial.
o The group wanted to know: How many are nonviolent?
o What are alternative sentencing options (including rehabilitative/positive options) for nonviolent offenders?
o One citizen stated that arresting people for drug crimes is not good for society or the person arrested.

• PILOT - Payment in Lieu of Taxes
o Nonprofits should pay more for services.

Gut Wrenchers:
The group did not get to “Gut Wrenchers.”

Total Points: 34

Summary:
It appears that the group was in general agreement that, with unemployment rising, public safety may be a big concern in the coming year. The group split, however, with one group favoring prevention (and sought to preserve parks, recreation and libraries) and another group preferring enforcement (preserving prisons and police).

An additional theme was a general skepticism about the value and motives of administrative personnel, which prompted cuts in the following areas: Administrative, Law and Vehicle Fleet. At one point, a participant challenged our city staffer as misrepresenting the facts.

A number of participants were also skeptical of the process and were disappointed in the limited menu of options from which to choose. One, and possibly two, of the three participants who left before we finished seemed to be frustrated by the process.

Memorable Quote (Paraphrased):
Is there a crisis looming? It seems so. What do we need? Cops - fire? I think so. Libraries? Maybe not - I’m not saying, “definitely not,” but we need shared sacrifice.

Other Concerns from the Group:
• Do all department heads understand the 10 percent - 20 percent - 30 percent cut options? Some think the 20 percent and 30 percent are for future budgets.
• What is the difference in the cost between the best offer for a contract and the offer selected from a minority-owned business?