Philadelphia budget waiting for Pa. bills to move forward

The crawl continues towards a budget for the city of Philadelphia.  Bills are expected to start moving in City Council Thursday.

Mayor Michael Nutter says he feels good after a Tuesday trip to Harrisburg to get legislation moving that he needs to enact a property tax overhaul known as the Actual Value Initiative or AVI.

“I think we were in a much better position to communicate what the real issues are in Philadelphia, why we need the AVI bill, why we need the homestead exemption bill,” he said “We were able to clear up some confusion that might be out there.”

Councilman Curtis Jones says all 14 budget bills are expected to be voted out of committee.

“What it means is there are a number of options,” Jones said. “And all of them conflict with each other, but based on what other moving parts do, we have options to be able to address the needs of the school board, the needs of the city’s budget in a timely fashion so that, come July 1, we don’t run out of money.”

Jones says much of the budget is depending on what happens in Harrisburg.