In his budget announcement last week, Mayor Nutter unveiled a $3. 45-billion proposal that included slight cuts for city health services but for the first time in several years no tax hikes.
Nutter cautioned, hower, that the pending state budget could paint a bleaker picture — a prediction that came true this week with the release of the first state budget proposal under Gov. Corbett.
The $27.3-billion state budget also includes no tax increases but would cut 1,500 state jobs and drastically slash education funding, including a more-than 50-percent cut in higher-education funding.
“The substance of this budget is built on four core principles: fiscal discipline, limited government, free enterprise and reform,” the governor said in Tuesday’s address.
The mayor said this week that he’s unsure what changes will have to be made to the city budget proposal to allow for cuts in state funding.
The state legislature has until July 1 to approve the budget, which, as is, would reduce state spending by about 3.1 percent.
In terms of health funding that could be filtered to HIV/AIDS and LGBT causes, the city budget allocated about $355 million to the Office of Health and Opportunity. Of that pool, about $125 million would be devoted to public and behavioral health, marking a slight decrease from the current fiscal-year budget, which includes $128 million for that category.
A large portion of health funding typically comes from the state and federal governments, however.
Corbett’s budget allocates about $953 million for the Department of Health, a decrease from this year’s $981 million.
Of that funding, $3.63 million for administrative and operational costs for HIV/AIDS Care and $1.38 million for HIV/AIDS Surveillance from the current budget remained level, while administrative and operational costs for AIDS Health Education increased from the current $4.1 million to $4.36 million.
Grant-funded HIV/AIDS programs saw both cuts and increases, with total grant-funded programs increasing from $24,207,000 to $24,235,000. Of that category, AIDS Programs funding would decrease from the current $7.38 million to $7.24 million, while funding for HIV Care and AIDS Drug Assistance Program rebates would remain level at $12 million and $1.2 million, respectively. The proposal includes a decrease from $1.64 million to $1.48 million for AIDS Health Education and an increase from $1.96 million to $2.29 million from Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS.
Members of ACT UP interrupted the mayor’s budget address, continuing their call for increased city funding for housing initiatives for people with HIV/AIDS.
The city budget allocates $38.9 million for homeless and housing assistance, compared with the current $41 million. The state proposal includes $22.6 million for homeless assistance, a slight decrease from the current $22.8 million.
ACT UP called on City Council to add an additional $2-$4 million in funding for housing for people with HIV/AIDS.
State funding for Community and Economic Development took a big hit, dropping from $412 million to $282 million, including a 75-percent cut to Community Development funds, which finances community-level projects.
The Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, which enforces the city’s nondiscrimination law, was given level funding, approximately $2 million, while funding for the state Human Relations Commissions decreased from $9.78 million to $9.49 million.
Along with next year’s budget, the mayor also released the proposed five-year plan, which would increase annual spending to $3.6 billion by fiscal year 2016.
The plan sets out several overarching goals for that five-year period, such as Philadelphia becoming one of the safest and greenest cities in the nation, with the enhancement of individual “well-being” of city residents and a government that works “efficiently and effectively.”
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].