First Council hearing on budget reveals criticism

Philadelphia City Council members grilled members of the Nutter Administration Wednesday during the first of dozens of budget hearings. Mayor Nutter is trying to plug a $1.4 billion dollar five-year budget gap in part by temporarily increasing property and sales taxes.

Philadelphia City Council members grilled members of the Nutter Administration Wednesday during the first of dozens of budget hearings. Mayor Nutter is trying to plug a $1.4 billion dollar five-year budget gap in part by temporarily increasing property and sales taxes.

Transcript:
Resistance to Mayor Nutter’s budget proposals may be growing. Nutter ally Bill Greenlee asked about possible property-tax exemptions for seniors and low-income residents. After the hearing Greenlee said he’s not opposed to Nutter’s plan.

Greenlee: “We know that with the over million dollar deficit in the first year and a billion dollar over five years, that there’s gonna be some pain and pain for a lot of people but we want to try to keep it where the most vulnerable wont be unduly hurt.”

Another proposal came from Councilman Bill Green, who thinks increasing the wage tax would be a better solution. Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sánchez called suggested having large corporations pay more.

Nutter opposes wage and business tax hikes.

Listen:
Click on the play button below or right click on this link and choose “Save Link As” to download. [audio: reports20090326budget.mp3]