Mayor Parker spoke with NBC10’s Lauren Mayk about the budget in the latest episode of Battleground Politics.
Full breakdown of the episode:
00:41 — Safeguarding the rights of Philadelphians
2:04 — Backup plans if federal money doesn’t come through
4:02 — Philly’s DEI office
5:58 — Changes to taxes in budget proposal
7:46 — Future plans with Sixers
9:18 — Recruiting federal workers from Biden administration
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, for the second time in her career as the city’s 100th mayor — as well as being the first woman and Black woman to hold the job — addressed City Council with a proposal for the city’s budget for the coming year.
During Thursday’s regularly scheduled City Council session, Parker presented a $6.7 billion spending plan.
In addressing City Council, Parker noted that she called last year’s budget the “One Philly” budget. And, with this year’s presentation, Parker said she’s delivering the “One Philly 2.0” budget.
This year’s proposal is “the new and improved version,” of her first budget proposal, she joked.
She also said that the proposal for the budget for the upcoming year is “brimming with improvements” for residents of the city.
Some highlights of her proposal:
- $186 million for public safety initiatives.
- $24.8 million for housing initiatives.
- $5.3 million for education efforts.
- $15 million for cleaning and and greening initiatives.
What will the budget afford?
The funding, Parker said, would afford a wealth of initiatives and new services for the City of Philadelphia.
At the opening of her comments, she noted that the proposal would expand Philly’s Wellness Court program to five days a week.
She called it a $2.7 million “investment in wellness that will be well spent.”
Along with this effort to help connect people battling addiction with rehabilitation programs, the proposal calls for an increase in investment in the new Riverview Wellness Village along the Delaware River by $75 million.
Parker also noted that the proposal helps bolster law enforcement efforts with $67 million set aside for a new forensics laboratory that will be built along Market Street in West Philadelphia.
“We are excited about it,” she said. “It’s money well spent to help us solve crime and to keep Philadelphia safer.”
Also, in discussing the need for investments into public safety, Parker said, she plans to invest $5 million for a slate of Vision Zero projects intended to help prevent traffic deaths across the city. This investment would also include $30 million over six years for speed cushions, line striping, and other traffic safety measures, Parker said.
“Every Philadelphian deserves to travel safely throughout our city and return home safe and unharmed,” Parker said.
On that note, Parker said that the proposal calls for the city to invest $716 million, over the course of five years, to help SEPTA overcome its financial woes. Along with this, the city would also support a $76 million capitol match over the capital program.
“Philadelphia, this is important, don’t let anyone tell you we’re not contributing our fair share to help SEPTA while we await the Commonwealth’s support to put the system on solid ground,” Parker said.
On housing, Parker noted that the proposal calls for $11 million to support the Housing Opportunities Made Easy (HOME) Initiative and will also request to borrow $800 million, over the course of five years, to fund the effort.
Parker said this will help support her promise to create or preserve over 30,000 units of housing.
In order to detail a housing plan and further funding details, Parker said that Philadelphia City Council President Kenyatta Johnson will host a “special session on housing” with City Council on March 24, 2025.
“That’s when we will share all of the details of our proposed housing plan,” Parker said.
Parker also noted the proposal calls for the city to, over the course of five years, issue $800 million in bonds for the housing plan.
In education, the proposal adds new schools and slots for extended day/year-round schooling to 15 more schools to bring the total number of schools with the extended day/extended year initiative to a total of 40.
Also, Parker said, the proposal calls for an additional $12 million to be specifically earmarked for teacher salaries.
The 2026 budget proposal’s impact on taxes
Mayor Parker is also proposing a reduction in both the wage tax and the Business Income and Receipts Tax (BIRT) that businesses pay.
It would take time, but the proposal calls for wage taxes to be reduced from 3.75% to 3.7% and nonresident wage taxes to go down from 3.44% to 3.39% by 2030.
For the upcoming fiscal year, for example, this proposal would cut resident wage taxes from 3.75% to 3.74%.
It’s a move that, Parker said, hasn’t been done in nearly two decades.
“Philadelphia, I want you to know that this is really a big deal. In fact, no mayor and City Council have stood together to reduce both sides of the BIRT and the wage tax at the same time in 17 years,” Parker said. “These $212 million in tax reform investments are historic and unprecedented.”
Celebrating America’s 250th birthday
This coming year, Philadelphia will be in the spotlight with a number of events, noted Parker, including 2026 FIFA World Cup events, MLB All-Star Week, and the America250 celebrations.
To prepare for these events, Parker noted the city has already committed more than $30 million for partners and event preparations along with nearly $28 million new investments for public safety.
This proposal, she said, calls for additional funding to bring investment into community events and programing for the upcoming year to $100 million.
“This means community events and programming, investments in our commercial corridors, and cleaning and beautifying citywide,” Parker said.
Councilmembers react to budget proposal
After Parker’s budget address, Councilmember Rue Landau issued a statement noting she appreciated plans to invest in housing, Vision Zero, a commitment to clean and green efforts and other initiatives.
But, she noted, that the proposal “raises questions.”
“Namely, how is the City going to balance proposed revenue cuts at this time as we face down pending federal funding cuts that will lead to a loss of services?” Landau asked in the statement.
Landau said that she looks forward to the upcoming budget process in order to “better understand the approach.”
Also, in a statement, Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, Chair of City Council’s Committee on Housing, Neighborhood Development, and the Homeless, said she was “excited” about the mayor’s proposal for an $800 million housing bond.
“I am very excited about this proposed historic investment in affordable housing initiatives! At our current pace it will take more than 200 years to build enough affordable housing. This is time we do not have, which is why I have been calling on the city to more aggressively fight this crisis,” she said in a statement.
Upcoming budget hearings
The plan will then need to be approved by council before the start of the fiscal year beginning on July 1.
Last year, in delivering the first budget of her tenure atop the city’s highest office, Parker unveiled a nearly $6.3 billion spending plan that she called her “One Philly” budget.
Following her budget address, City Council plans to hold a series of public hearings on the proposed budget, along with members of Parker’s administration, to “understand the mayor’s spending proposal,” City Council President Kenyatta Johnson’s office said in a statement.
For a schedule of hearings that will follow Thursday’s budget address and to check for the latest updates, visit https://phlcouncil.com/budget2026.
Source: www.nbcphiladelphia.com…