Group 8
Moderators: Carolyn T. Thompson and Bryan McHale
Total points: 52.5

Group Description:
The group had 19 participants, one of whom had to leave early on in the process. (Numbers below are based on 18 participants.) The group consisted of approximately an even number of black and white participants, was slightly more than half female, and included a range of adult ages.
The group did an extraordinary job of listening to one another, sharing floor time, and engaged fully in the work. There was a shared value among the group of limiting job loss to the furthest extent possible. Several members of the group expressed concern that they were not given enough information to make informed decisions; a sentiment with which most participants seemed to agree. The group made the decision to move forward, making the best decisions they could with the information they had. The group spent the majority of its time on the “Low Hanging Fruit” and “No Way, No How” buckets. Several items were discussed in-depth, but never received enough votes to be placed in a specific budget. (Those items are listed below under “Additional Items Discussed.”) Individuals in the group came up with several new ideas that have been recorded below. Those items were not discussed as a full group.
No participants completed individual dissenting work sheets.

Low-Hanging Fruit
Total Points: 40.5
• #20 Eagles: 4 points
o 18 people voted in favor (100%)
• #1 Administrative - 10% cut: 2.5 points
o If we cut fire and police, we should cut administrative expenses as well.
o 15 people voted in favor (83%).
• #11 Police - 5%: 13 points
o Want better allocation of resources.
o 14 people voted in favor (78%).
• #17 Amusement: 2 points
o People are going to go anyway.
o 17 people voted in favor (94%).
• #21 Parking: 2 points
o 17 people voted in favor (94%).
• #25 Wage/Resident - increase .1%: 12 points
o “I am grateful that I am employed. I feel I have a responsibility to give a little more.”
o “$50 is less than a pair of sneakers.”
o 14 people voted in favor (78%).
• #26 Wage/Commuter - increase .1%: 5 points
o 15 people voted in favor (83%).

No Ways, No Hows
Total points taken off the table: 44
• #4 Fairmont Park: 2 points
o The city already consolidated Fairmont Park and Parks & Recreation.
o Brings tourists to the city.
o 14 people voted in favor (78%).
• #13 Public Health (cuts): 7 points
o 17 people voted in favor (94%).
• #14 Recreation: 5 points
o 15 people voted in favor (83%)
• #7 Housing: 7 points
o 14 people voted in favor (78%).
• #6 Free Library: 3 points
o The city has to be able to teach kids.
o 16 people voted in favor (89%).
• #5 Fire: 20 points
o What do they do when they aren’t putting out fires? Seem to just sit around.
o Fire has already taken a lot of cuts.
o 14 people voted in favor (78%).

Shared Pain
Total points: 12
• #24 Sales: 6 points
o May discourage people from purchasing items in the city vs. in the suburbs where sales tax is lower.
o Doubt that City Council will really pass this.
• #16 Vehicle Fleet: 6 points
o Not clear what vehicles would be cut.
o 9 people voted in favor (50%).

Additional Items Discussed
Total points: 21
(Votes were not sufficient to place in one of the above buckets.)
• #3 DROP Program: 4 points
o Figures are old.
o 7 people voted in favor (39%).
• #10 Licenses and Inspections - 5%: 1 point
o Want stricter enforcement.
o Increase fines, enforce them, and add penalties for those who don’t pay their fines on time.
o Should be investigated for misusing money due to lack of productivity and those who work on their other jobs during L&I time.
o 7 people voted in favor (39%).
• # 13 Public Health (revenue): 1 point
o People don’t have the money.
o 11 people voted to place it on the “No Ways, No Hows” list (61%).
• # 2 Courts: 10 points
o Already busy. People have to wait.
o Have experienced cuts over the years.
o (The group did not vote on this item.)
• # 22 Real Estate: 5 points
o Can we increase by income instead of property value? (Property values have gone up in low-income areas because of UPenn and wealthy people moving in.)
o Reassessments should be explored.
o Increase only for those who have owned their home for more than a certain number of years. (Fifteen years?)
o Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOTS) should be explored.
o (The group did not vote on this item.)

New Ideas
(Items were not discussed or voted on as a full group.)
• Partnership between the Eagles and Parks and Recreation.
o The Eagles would support Parks and Recreation financially (they have the money to do so), and it would be a great marketing tool for them.
o The Green Movement is big. The Eagles color is green, and the eagle is a national symbol.
• Increase individual contributions for police and fire employees to their health-insurance plans
o Police and fire currently don’t make any individual contributions for themselves or their families.
o They should pay on par with other city employees.
• Institute furloughs for city employees in place of firings.
o Maybe everyone works four days a week?
o If city employees are asked to give things up, then citizens should pay, too.
• Increase the efficiency / maintenance of city buildings.
o Contractors are ripping the city off.
o “Our building is so cold that we have to run space heaters, even in the summer, while other parts of the building are too hot.”
• Sale of Camp William Penn.
• Casinos - push them through so that we can start getting the revenue.
• Recreation Centers - add membership fee to use the recreation centers during specific hours. (Keep them open to the public during other hours.)
• Parks - rent park space to hospitals and other similar entities that would maintain the beauty. (Don’t allow homes to be built.)
• Long-term actions: One participant wanted it noted that she supports the long-term actions of First Judicial District and Eliminate Row Offices.

Additional Quote
• “We can fix this budget with revenue. We shouldn’t be cutting unless we can really do without them.”