Group 7
Moderators: Franne McNeal, Carol Lydon
Total points: 53

Group Description:
The group began with 22 members who represented 10 neighborhoods in South, Center, North and Northwest Philadelphia. The group was half women and half men. The racial make-up was 90% Caucasian and 10% African American. The ages range from late-20s through seniors.

From the beginning, members seemed to ready to trust the process and the moderators, which allowed almost the entire time to focus on the options. After five minutes reviewing the work sheet, they were ready to work. For the initial introduction of the “Low Hanging Fruit” and the “No Way, No Hows,” each person provided one “top choice” until no additional choices remained. Generally, the conversation was fairly distributed among the group.

To allow more time for discussion of the “Shared Pain,” the larger group was split into three groups. When the group came together to finalize the “Shared Pain” bucket, the conversation was more heated on several topics and strong opinions were expressed. People expressed that there was a sense of community among the members in getting the work done. Overall, it was a good group that worked hard.
Five dissenting work sheets were filed.

Low-Hanging Fruit
Total Points: 18
• #16 Vehicle Fleet: 6 points (80% of the vote)
o Not much discussion. Several people commented on the number of city cars that can be seen at City Hall on any given day.
• #17 Amusement tax: 2 points (80%)
o A little discussion, but it was generally felt that it was a small price to pay.
• #20 Eagles: 4 points (100%)
o “The easiest is the Eagles. $8M! Are you kidding me?”
• #24 Sales Tax: 6 points (80%)

No Way, No How
Total points taken off the table: 116
• #2 Courts: 10 points (75% of the vote)
• #4 Fairmount Park - 20% reduction: 1 point (75%)
• #4 Fairmount Park - 30% reduction: 2 points (75%)
o “We will be known as the city without fountains.”
• #5 Fire - 20% cut: 20 points (100%)
o There was no support for ANY cuts for the Fire Department.
• #6 Free Library - 20% cut: 3 points (100%)
o There was absolutely no discussion regarding making a 20% cut to the Library budget. (A 10% cut was moved to the “Shared Pain” bucket.)
• #7 Housing: 7 points (100%)
• #11b Police - 20% cut: 52 points (100%)
o There was no support for ANY cuts for the Police Department.
• #12b - Prisons - 20% cut: 21 points (100%)

Shared Pain
Total Points: 35
• #1 Administrative: 5 points (60% of the vote)
o City official clarified that cuts included secretaries, assistants, etc.
o “The count of all positions has gone down. The Philadelphia Inquirer is not correct when they say that the number of Administrative jobs has risen 20% from the Street administration.”
o It may be necessary to separate the Mayor’s Office from the bundle in this option.
• #1 Administrative - revenue option: 1 points (75%)
o Clarification, administrative fees, not City Council fees.
• #3 DROP program: 4 points (85%)
o “$7M is disputed - maybe it should be removed.”
o City official agreed that the amount is from 2003 and could be changed.
• #13 Public Health - revenue option: 1 point (60%)
• #15a Streets - 20% cut: 5 points (75%)
o “Why does it have to be 20%? I drive a scooter. If no one fixes potholes, I die.”
o “In South Philadelphia, we aren’t getting anything anyway.”
o “I’ve been trying to get an alley light for five years.”
o “It’s ugly. Just ugly.”
o “We pay our taxes; we should get our streets cleaned, and our trash picked up.”
• #15b Streets - revenue option: 2 points (90%)
• #25 Wage Tax/Resident: 12 points
o “Pay a little more, and you get a lot.”
o “Where is the incentive to work harder?”
• #26- Wage Tax/Commuter: 5 points

Items that were discussed but did not get enough votes to pass:
• #6 Library - 10% cut
o Libraries are needed because they provide access to computers. After-school programs and schools do not have libraries as they used to.
• #8a Human Services
• #8b Human Services
o Frustration about lack of information.
o City official noted that portions of the information are dependent on state funding
• #9 Law
• #13 Public Health
o “There is a small fee for OTC meds ($2-$3), so a sliding scale would be fair.”
o “We are all equal humans, so why should we allow for different costs if we are all equal as human beings. There should be a flat rate vs. a sliding scale. Would a flat fee keep people from seeking care?”
o “Reality is that we have different circumstances, different health concerns.”
o Fear of abuse of program and that the program will get out of whack. “People go from OTC medicine, to ‘I need shampoo.’ ”
o “We need to decide between what is absolutely vital vs. what is nice to have.”
o “City is disingenuous. “Sixty-five percent of people who use city clinics have insurance.” (Actual number is 48%.)
• #14 Recreation
o Discussion around reducing budget by 20% for 3 points
o “My child would not be where he is without some of these programs.”
• #15c Streets - Sanitation Service Fee
o The group kept returning to this option, but in the end could not come to a decision as to whether to adopt it or not.
o “What? I have to pay them to stink up my street?”
o Trash will be dumped elsewhere. “It will end up in the lot down the street, which is not acceptable either.”
o “My neighbors will not be able to afford $260/month. They are on a fixed income.” (Note: Work sheet says the fee would be $260/year.)
o The city pays for the amount of trash it dumps. If there is more recycling, the city pays less.
• #18/19 BPT
o Even though people felt that big companies like Comcast should pay more, raising this tax was hard on the small businesses and in the long run, would do more harm than good.
• #21 Parking
• #22 Real Estate
• #23 Real Estate Transfer Tax

Gut Wrenchers
• Did not reach.

Big, Hairy, Ambitious Goals
• Did not reach.

Memorable Quotes
• “None of these cuts will feel good. What is crucial to our lives, not just our quality of life?”

Other
• The PILOT Program was raised as a way to generate revenue.
• Tax abatement was raised as an issue.