Philadelphia's Latest Budget Hole Tops Out At $47 Million
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - With a new deficit of tens of millions of dollars, Philadelphia's cash-starved city budget is in line for even more belt-tightening.
High unemployment in Philadelphia is the leading culprit behind continued drops in sales and wage tax revenues (see related story). City finance director Rob Dubow says figures are in now for the first quarter of the fiscal year (see previous story), and those declines project out to a $47-million hole in the current budget.
That means cuts will be needed, though Dubow says that after several years of reductions, there's little fat to trim.
"After the reductions that we've already taken, it gets more challenging and more challenging to find additional ways to take corrective action," he tells KYW Newsradio.
The greatest single expense in the budget are salaries, though Dubow says it's too early to tell whether layoffs of city workers will be needed. He expects the Nutter administration to unveil a plan to close this new deficit in about three weeks.
Reported by KYW City Hall bureau chief Mike Dunn
