Mayor Michael Nutter’s unveiling of the 2014 fiscal-year operating budget got almost as much attention for its delivery than it did for its content.
The March 14 budget address was interrupted by hundreds of labor workers, angry over a four-year contract stalemate, who shouted down the mayor until the council session had to be recessed.
Nutter resumed his speech before staffers and press, detailing the major components of the $3.75-billion proposal.
The proposal included a mixed bag for the city’s Department of Public Health, which includes the AIDS Activities Coordinating Office.
The mayor proposed that the department’s general-fund support increase from $112.3 million in 2013 to $114 million. The change includes a $6.6-million increase in personal services — which includes salaries — but a $4.7-million decrease for contracts and other services, and a $46,000 decrease for purchase of materials, supplies and equipment.
The Health Department did not respond to a request for comment by presstime.
The Office of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability would get approximately $13.8 million, a decrease of about $455,000 from the previous year, while the Office of Housing and Community Development would be level-funded at $2.52 million.
The Human Relations Commission, which enforces the city’s LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance, would see a slight increase of $9,000 in the salaries category, bringing its total allocation to about $2.014 million.
One of the most significant changes in the budget is the introduction of the Actual Value Initiative, the result of a citywide property-tax reevaluation.
Nutter said AVI would allow the city to nearly triple the value of its taxable property, from $36 billion to $98 billion, and would generate about $1.2 billion for city schools. Instead of the current property-tax rate of 9.77 percent, however, residents would pay closer to 1.32 percent.
The city will host two free Telephone Town Halls for residents to learn more about AVI, from 6:55-7:55 p.m. March 27 and 28. For more information or to register, visit www.phila.gov/OPA/AboutUs/Pages/News.aspx.
The mayor also introduced his five-year plan, which includes five primary goals: making Philadelphia one of the safest cities in the nation, improving education and health, ensuring the city is a place of choice for visitors and new residents, making it the greenest city in the country and having a government that operates efficiently and effectively.
Among the steps taken to achieve those goals, the plan proposes that the budget increase to $3.85 billion by fiscal year 2018.
“We are moving forward, working in partnership, and we will continue to make progress on our goals for today and the future,” Nutter said in his address.