No panic, but tax revenues dropped for Philadelphia this summer

Tax revenues for the city of Philadelphia are not as good as expected.

Mayor Michael Nutter has sent a message to City Controller Alan Butkovitz raising concern that revenue declined over the summer.

“We are seeing some tax revenue weakness in July and August and we are very very concerned about it,” said Nutter. “Market volatility has also impacted the city’s pension fund which is already underfunded at only 47 percent and we may have to put more general fund money into the pension fund to support it.”

If revenues continue to drop, Philadelphia could be on track to miss budget projections by $60 million.

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Mayor Nutter says he is not freezing hiring or demanding spending cuts, yet. He’s waiting to review September’s numbers.

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