PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) -- Philadelphia officials say the city is facing a budget deficit of nearly half a billion dollars. They are warning that cuts to city services may be necessary.
Finance director Rob Dubow says the city hasn’t decided on any specific solutions to the deficit and hasn’t ruled anything out.
"At this point, everything is on the table for discussion," he said.
Among the options are offloading some services to the private sector, hoping foundations will take on others, and simply eliminating certain spending.
The potential for increasing revenue to fill in the gap is limited. Budget director Marisa Waxman says it could have the opposite of the desired effect.
"Would rate increases for taxes and fees stifle the economic recovery of Philadelphia, just when we need jobs to come back and business activity to come back?" she said.
She says the city is hoping and lobbying for a federal stimulus package that will include aid to cities, but in light of the uncertainties, Mayor Jim Kenney is postponing his budget address until April 15.
In the meantime, the city wants residents to weigh in on what is most important to them in the budget. A survey is available online.