Overnight, City Council provided preliminary approval for Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker’s $6.37 billion “One Philly” proposal.
In a statement shared this morning, a representative of the mayor’s office said that City Council’s Committee of the Whole gave preliminary approval to the budget.
Officials plan to announce the move during an event at 9 a.m. at City Hall.
Philadelphia municipal officials are expected to announce the passage of Mayor Cherelle Parker’s $6.3 billion “One Philly” budget during a press event on Thursday morning. The event is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. and it will be livestreamed at the top of this story.
Mayor Parker proposed this “One Philly” budget plan in March.
The plan — which looks at the coming year and plans for five years ahead — includes increased funding for schools, law enforcement, community initiatives as well as her own office as more municipal efforts are set to move under that umbrella, along with no increase in taxes for city residents.
“I thank Council President [Kenyatta] Johnson and members of City Council for voting to advance my One Philly Budget that delivers on my promise of a government that makes unprecedented investments in public safety, in making Philadelphia cleaner and greener, and providing economic opportunity for every Philadelphian,” Mayor Parker said in a statement on Thursday. “Residents will be able to see, touch, and feel the positive impacts of this budget in their neighborhoods, along their commercial corridors, and throughout Philadelphia.”
In a statement, city officials touted several highlights of the budget plan:
- Homestead Exemption increase. The Mayor and Council are increasing the Homestead Exemption from $80,000 to $100,000. Officials said this will provide a savings of up to $280 on homeowners’ property taxes.
- Low-income tax freeze. Paired with the homestead increase is a new relief program, which officials said will be a freeze in property tax increases for low-income homeowners.
- In safety investments, this budget includes funds to hire 400 police officers, provide an expansion of — and new training for — community policing and $100 million to begin building, what officials called, “a citywide wellness ecosystem” that would provide care, treatment and housing for those facing addiction and others.
- This budget plan also includes $477 million set aside to clean and green the city. This includes launching a cleaning and greening program to clean every city block, expanding the city’s Taking Care of Business program for commercial corridors, addressing illegal dumping and other issues.
- $306 million for education initiatives in the city that would also bring extended-day, extended-year enrichment and career development opportunities to city students and provide funding for improvements to school facilities.
“I said in March, ‘don’t just listen to what I say, watch what we do’. I hoped we would work together with diplomacy, diligence and purpose to implement a budget for the People of Philadelphia,” Mayor Parker said in a statement. “Tonight, we have shown the people we have done just that. This will be the standard operating procedure for my administration working with our partners in City Council, to serve all of Philadelphia.”
Over the past few weeks, Parks and city officials have toured Philadelphia, visiting neighborhoods to provide a series of public hearings ahead of Thursday’s preliminary approval of the budget plan.
This is a breaking news story. It will be updated as new information becomes available.
Hayden Mitman
Source link
