GROUP 5 Pinn Memorial Baptist 2/23/09

Moderators: Beth Perry and Ted Enoch City representative: Jeff Friedman

Total Points: 52

Group Description: Group 5 had a dozen people (7 men, 5 women), three fourths of whom were African-American, with one Asian and two whites. One senior citizen - who more than held his own - was balanced by two people in their late twenties; the rest were middle-aged. Several participants came from South Philadelphia and Roxborough, but the majority came from the surrounding neighborhood. One was a block captain on the mayor’s block.

Group 5 had lively discussions as people pressed to get their opinions heard, but the overall spirit was cheerful. One person was heard to remark on leaving that “We had good discussions…and no screaming matches.” The group’s one senior citizen said “Next time get more senior citizens.” (He had been alone in resisting real estate tax increases.) One person lightheartedly responded “You gotta get more of your own people out…” The group did proceed to move through all four buckets, approving one gut wrencher at the end.

There were no dissenting worksheets.
Low Hanging Fruit Total Points: 16
• #3 DROP 4 points 92% of the votes
• #1 Vehicle Fleet 6 84%
• #20 Eagles 4 100%
• #15B Streets 2 75%

Other items discussed, but not getting enough votes to qualify for this category:

• #15C Streets 13 8%
• #21 Parking 2 8%
• #4A Fairmount Park 1 25%

Discussion: #21 Parking

• One person proposed getting rid of all parking meters in commercial districts (South Street, Walnut Street) as an incentive for shopping in these locations (so as to generate more commerce and higher tax receipts).
• Group vote on this unscripted proposal: 2 out of 12, or 17% of the vote.
• One person objected that shoppers might not be the ones using this perk.
• Local residents and local workers could tie up these spots.
• Plan could lead to traffic problems
• How about time periods of free parking? (1 - 4 PM, for instance)
• New parking meter rates are really, really high.
• Nearby St. Joseph’s issue: students’ parking on neighborhood streets crowds residents.
• Personal Safety Issue: One South Philadelphia woman drives to Center City cultural events because of fear of public transit crime; (also uses taxi to get from public downtown garage to cultural venue to avoid crime)
• Higher garage rates (#21) would help keep her (and others) away from Center City cultural events.
• And yet…public safety requires revenue (from parking? Or from???)

No Way No How

These items made the NWNH list:

• # 5B Fire 100% of the votes
• # 13B Public Health 75%
• # 14C Recreation 100%
• # 14B Recreation 92%
• # 11B Police 100%
• # 11A Police 75%
• # 6B Free Library 84%
• # 7 Housing 92%
• # 10 Licenses and Inspections 84%
• # 12B Prisons 84%
• # 2 Courts 75%

These items were discussed but did not get enough votes to qualify for NWNH:

• # 5A Fire 67%
• # 8B Human Services 67%
• # 8A Human Services 50%
• # 13A Public Health 67%
• # 14A Recreation 67%
• # 6A Free Library 67%
• # 12A Prisons 50%
• # 9 Legal 33%

Discussion:

• Licenses and Inspections: Businesses and vendors should be inspected.
• Licenses and Inspections already has trouble delivering full service at this current budget level.
• Prisons: already overcrowded at this current budget level.
• Prisons: We already have too many criminals on our streets.
• Prisons: We need re-entry services for prisoners.
• Prisons: We need alternatives to prisons for nonviolent offenders.
• Prisons: Should we charge prisoners for room and board?

No NWNHs went to Shared Pain or to Gut Wrenchers.
Shared Pain Total Points: 34

• # 1A Administrative 5 points 75% of the votes
• # 22A Real Estate 5 75%
• # 1B Administrative 1 67%
• # 25B Wage/Resident 12 67%
• # 26B Wage/Commuter 5 84%
• # 24 Sales 6 58%

These items were discussed but did not get enough votes to register for SP:

• #15A Streets 50%
• # 23A Real Estate Transfer 50%
Discussion:

• Administrative (#1A and 1B) problems have been created over many years: uncollected taxes and abatement privileges granted are examples.
• Cut Administrative budget: “They’re not doing their job.”
• Administrative problems require performance standards.
• Administrative issue: Taxpayers have to stand in line for one half hour to pay money (!) - so use improved technology to correct this.
• Real Estate tax: senior citizen participant proposed excluding senior citizens (but it’s not legal to exclude a particular class of taxpayers…)
• Real Estate tax: Might be legal to have an income threshold rebate.
• Real Estate tax: valuation inequities, so we need fairer reassessments.
• Real Estate tax: Tax abatements present equity issue - not fair.
• Administrative #1B: It’s hard enough to start a business, so don’t add fees.
• City needs to do a better job of collecting taxes.
• Sales: Look at State of Delaware: low taxes build up their commercial base.
• Sales dissent: Our sales tax is not placed on necessities like food and clothing.
• Question to city representative: Q: Does recycling generate income? A: It used to, but doesn’t currently.
Gut Wrenchers Total Points: 2

One item made this list

• #17 Amusement 2 67% of the votes

These items were discussed, but did not the required votes to qualify for the GW list:

• #23A Real Estate Transfer 50% of the votes
• # 4A Fairmount Park 50%
• # 6A Free Library 33%
• # 11A Police 50%
• # 5A Fire 25%
• # 13A Public Health 8%
• # 12B Prisons 8%

Discussion:

• Cut overtime charges.
• Real Estate transfer tax doesn’t amount to much: If you can afford a house, you can afford this tax.
• Fairmount Park Irony: We just voted in November to get rid of the Fairmount Park Commission (with its capacity for fundraising…).
• Build coin-operated fountains (!)
• If we cut police, it’s only fair to cut fire as well…
• Public Health: Cut out one nursing home and replace it with funds and servies for “aging in place” program; should be cheaper.
• Public Health: One person (doctor from the VA) said that city public health centers are already totally overburdened; people are losing their jobs and their health insurance and turning to the city clinics. These clients need OTC drug provisions, so don’t cut.
• Proposal: Go over the budget, arranging for 70% of the budget shortfall to come from cuts in services and 30% of the shortfall to come from revenue increases. Then proceed to take a little from each line item - a 5% cut from each item, for instance.