Philadelphia Lawmakers Still Haggling Over Budget, Unfazed By June 1st Deadline
By Mike Dunn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia's Home Rule Charter requires City Council to approve a budget by June 1st each year.
But it's clear that this year, the deadline won't be met.
Not only will Friday's legal deadline come and go without a budget deal, there's little sense at this point of a consensus emerging among councilmembers on how to resolve it.
"We are a plane that has to have several runways -- and we're running out of time to take off," says Democratic majority leader Curtis Jones.
The delay comes in part because the mayor's proposed budget relies on Harrisburg approval of several property tax-related measures, including a homestead exemption. Council has now scheduled a new budget hearing for next Tuesday, one day after state lawmakers return to work.
The true deadline, though, is at the end of June, when the current budget expires. Lack of a deal by then could force a partial shutdown of city government.
