Today, City Council passed a preliminary city budget for 2024. The $6.2 billion budget addresses workforce retention, quality-of-life issues, public safety, and taxes.
Workforce Retention:
The budget calls for $10 million in hiring bonuses to fill spots in the police department, prisons, and other public safety departments.
Quality-Of-Life:
$1.475 million would go to the Streets Department to fight illegal dumping, and $1 million would go to the PA Horticultural Society to clean vacant lots.
Public Safety:
The budget would allocate $3 million more in funding to mobile crisis response teams to assist law enforcement in responding to 911 calls where mental health problems are involved. $1 million of the budget would add hundreds of cameras to recreation centers and playgrounds.
Taxes:
The wage tax on residents would decrease from 3.79 percent to 3.75 percent. The original deductions proposed by Mayor Kenney would offer $150 million in tax relief over five years, but Councilmembers Katherina Gilmore Richardson and Isaiah Thomas pushed for another $24.1 million.
“With the highest wage tax in the nation, these continued reductions will allow us to further uplift residents and Philadelphia’s small and diverse business communities,” Councilmember Gilmore Richardson said in a statement.
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