The administration of President Donald Trump solved a subsidy for environmental justice in the amount of $ 1 million for the Bureau of Sustainable Development in Philadelphia, city officials said on Tuesday, giving up-to-date details about what is the only federal subsidy canceled during the second term of Trump, which directly affects the city’s government.
The subsidy is a decrease in the bucket in the context of the city, which spends over $ 6 billion a year thanks to the budget of the general fund and over $ 11 billion in all funds, including self -sufficient funds, such as the Aviation Department, which supervises the city airports. But in 2024, Philadelphia received a total of $ 2.8 billion in federal funds, and the administration of the mayor of Cherlle L. Parker is preparing for additional cuts.
Uncertainty about federal financing will probably raise by enormous negotiations on the city’s budget, and the city council members questioned on Tuesday whether Parker’s ambitious plans, including tax reduction and borrowing $ 800 million for a up-to-date housing initiative, are an appropriate strategy.
»Read more: Philly budget negotiations, explained on four charts
“We are starting this budget process with every financial expert, citing the uncertainty about the federal budget and we saw how the Trump’s presidency is emboldened by the work of billionaire Elon Musk for quick aiming and dismantling of federal agencies,” said a member of the council of Kendra Brooks, a member of the progressive parties of the family families, said on the first day of nine weeks of the council.
Brooks asked: “why the administration asks for codification of 17 years of tax reductions”-by exploring Parker’s proposal about determining the long-term salary schedule in the city and reduces of business taxes-entering into account the uncertainty of federal assistance.
Meanwhile, a member of the Isaiah Thomas council, a more moderate democrat who supports tax reductions, asked if the city spent too much money, taking into account the federal landscape.
“We want to spend a lot of money, a lot of expenses this year,” said Thomas. “Looking at the tariffs, looking at the costs of goods, looking at what you want to do in the apartment – does it match the moment we are in?”
Parker hopes that there will be a line that will allow her to prevent her from stopping her program, while showing that the city is prepared to cope with what comes out of Washington. She tried to avoid combat rhetoric, which could attract the anger of Trump or musk, and took into account a reserve worth $ 95 million to deal with federal cuts in her proposal of the next city budget.
»Read more: The mayor of Cherllelle Parker presents his budget plan worth $ 6.7 billion as a “serious” threat to Trump, to limit lend a hand to cities is approaching
The financial director of the city of Rob Dubow on Tuesday admitted that the amount would not do much to lend a hand the city stern cuts, but said that this could lend a hand continue to continue individual subsidies in the face of the elimination. He noted that the proposed budget of the mayor also includes other reserves, such as funds balance of $ 514 million, i.e. the amount deliberately left in the budget that will lend a hand the city move in unforeseen shortages.
“We try to do these things to stand against what can come, and at the same time not abandon the necessary investments … to keep the city forward,” he told Dubow to the legislators at the hearing, adding that the city “is not caught flat”.
Trump threatened that all funds would cut off the so -called sanctuary cities, including in Philadelphia, which fall into the federal enforcement of immigration law. At the beginning of this year, he temporarily fried all federal subsidies.
The city’s lawyer of Renee Garcia said that the chaos of the second Trump “teaches me patience”, noticing that federal funds seem temporarily frozen at unpredictable intervals and that many attempts of the president limit different funding streams are associated with courts.
“Sometimes at 8 am we cannot draw funds, but at 20:00 we can,” said Garcia Council. “They are doing something. There is a claim. There is an order. The money begins to flow.”
Here’s what else happened on the first day of budget interrogations.
The questions are approaching the homeless service office
The Parker administration installed a up-to-date leader of the homeless service office and swore cleaning the operations after the agency has crossed its budget for several years in a row, but the financing of the department will probably have further control from the council of this spring.
The biggest question that took place largely unanswered on Tuesday is why the administration seems to propose the agency budget reduction by $ 5 million for the next year compared to the current allocation of $ 88.7 million.
“I have a challenge to understand how we can cope with the increase in homelessness by chopping the OHS budget,” said Jamie Gauthier member, a democrat representing part of Western Philadelphia.
Tiffany Thurman, the Chief of Staff of the Parker, insisted that the “budget would not be cut off”, but would not develop.
Budget director Sabrina Maynard only said that “there were some funds that were not needed” and that she would continue later.
The reduction is completely in the office fund for external contracts, which is the majority of its budget. OHS pays external agencies and non-profit organizations to accommodate the homeless, and these contractual processes have led to the department of about $ 15 million after the pandemic.
Cheryl Hill, the up-to-date executive director of the office, tried to placid the advice that eliminating homelessness is one goal of the mayor’s housing plan worth $ 2 billion, which she revealed to legislators on Monday during a special session.
»Read more: The mayor of Cherllelle Parker will present a housing plan among the federal financing cuts and the skepticism of the Trump Council
“We can end homelessness in Philadelphia and this is our intention,” said Hill. “We look at our processes. We look at the services we provide, and make sure that they are appropriate for people who are good in Philadelphia.”
City staff problems persist despite a petite improvement
Several members of the Council asked the highest Parker employees to clarify why the city has a continuous, long -term problem with miniature staff, which includes departments throughout the commune and is the most acute in public safety agencies.
Administrative officials stated that they had made gradual progress, bringing a nationwide Wakat indicator from 19% last year to 17% this month. Candi Jones, director of human resources, is still almost 5,800 unpaid jobs in the entire working force of over 20,000 people.
Jones said that the efforts of Parker administration aimed at recruiting potential employees led to an raise in job applications in the city, jumping from 53,000 in 2023 to over 60,000 last year. Administrative officials said that they hosted two professional fairs to employ federal employees who recently resigned or were dismissed by the Trump administration.
A member of the Council Jim Harrita, a democrat who represents the city largely, asked why so many jobs remain open if tens of thousands of people submitted a job application in the city.
Jones said that employment is only slightly overtaking abrasion and that the city loses about 3,000 employees a year on resignation and retirement.
“We look at our huge recruitment efforts. We look at new employees. But we bleed,” said Jones. “Our efforts in recruitment are nothing.
The urban associations stated that the extremely strict Parker policy requiring all employees of the city working in person five days a week – which the mayor implemented last year after surviving a court challenge – is an obstacle to recruitment and detention.
Many free jobs are focused on the municipal public safety agencies, in particular the prison department, which has 42% free indicator, in accordance with the last report of the Pennsylvania intergovernmental cooperation office. The vacancy rate is 30% in the Sheriff’s office and 16% in the police department.
