Council could eye cuts to balance budget

Philadelphia City Council is fighting the clock to get a budget in place for the new fiscal year that begins on July first, and staffing cuts could be looming.

Philadelphia City Council is fighting the clock to get a budget in place for the new fiscal year that begins on July first, and staffing cuts could be looming.

It’s been a constant question coming up during Council budget hearings, asking commissioners about unfilled positions and staffing requirements.  Councilman Frank Rizzo says he believes the city has too many workers, but cuts are tough to enact.

“I still don’t see a real hard hard look at the number of employees this city has,” says Rizzo. “Managers, the politicans who run governments the last thing they want to do is hurt people hurt union members.”

Just how many employees would be cut is not known. Nor do they know if attrition could provide enough savings.  Mayor Michael Nutter has repeatedly said the city can’t cut enough workers to cover the budget shortfall, but the cuts could be part of an overall strategy to replace the fee and taxes that could be combined with a proposed real estate tax hike.