Rebecca Rhynhart on her new plan to save the city money—without raising taxes

May. xviii, 2020

It's a few weeks since Mayor Kenney unveiled his Covid-19 Doomsday budget, the one that, unlike in virtually every other city, raises taxes on working and middle class stakeholders in the midst of an economic freefall, and that decimates funding for programs ranging from the African American Museum in Philadelphia to the Office of Workforce Development to the Part of Arts, Civilisation and the Artistic Economy.

Ever since, despite loads of individual handwringing, at that place has been precious little public conversation about whether Kenney'south plan is sufficiently strategic, equally opposed to simply reactionary. For some reason, in the birthplace of American Democracy, we don't talk a lot almost the policy decisions that shape our lives and times.

Well, maybe that public conversation starts today, now that City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart, fresh from a two-week deep dive into the mayor's proposal, has released an alternative budgetary vision, one that achieves the same savings as Kenney without raising taxes or eviscerating key programs.

I called Rhynhart to walk me through her findings, but before hearing from her, a discussion of caution: In the past, when the controller has fulfilled her watchdog mission and critiqued this or that policy of the mayor (her former boss), the assistants has often responded, Trump-like, by questioning her motives, as when mayoral spokesman Mike Dunn recently said of Rhynhart's budgetary concerns: "[She] seems much more concerned with generating press as opposed to governing."

And so, exist wary. We face an economical collapse of celebrated proportions—that 25 percent of our population below the poverty line? What's that climbing to?—and we demand a smart strategy to recover, the starting time step of which entails a robust budget debate.

So, a challenge to y'all, beloved denizen: If yous come across any questioning of anyone's motive when it comes to a public chat on how nosotros motility frontward in such perilous times, call it out as just more than political doublespeak meant to distract you and, instead, need directly talk on the merits from any such spinmeister.

Okay, so what did Rhynhart conclude later a deep dive into Kenney'southward budget? The following is an edited and condensed version of our conversation.

Larry Platt: So, it looks to me similar you've gotten to the same number as Kenney without raising taxes or taking a sledgehammer to vital programs we're going to need for a speedy recovery. Tin can you walk me through what yous constitute?

Rebecca Rhynhart: Certain. We ready out to get through the upkeep and see if we could find offsets in savings to avoid the tax increases the mayor proposes, which come to $107 one thousand thousand, between the city budget and the Schoolhouse District budget …

LP: Because a hefty property revenue enhancement is being proposed to fund the schools, as well.

RR: That's right. The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative has put out guidance nearly how to govern during Covid, and the i best practice constant is that layoffs, raising taxes and severe cuts to services should be the last resort. And then I just idea, "At that place must be a way to have this word, especially given that nosotros've added $i billion in new spending the terminal 5 years."

Then we needed to come up up with $107 million to beginning the mayor'due south proposed tax increases, and that stretches to $120 meg to as well offset the almost astringent cuts, like cutting the Commerce Department past 85 per centum, when that'southward a significant department nosotros're going to demand to assistance the city recover.

Rhynhart speaks to Larry Platt at a contempo Citizen Virtual Town Hall about the claim of Kenney'south proposed budget cuts

LP: And what did yous notice?

RR: We plant that, if you lot merely recall of the upkeep differently, the money is there. Nosotros came up with $123 million in savings. I of the biggest items is overtime reduction. Nosotros've talked almost this before. Overtime has increased equally staffing levels accept also increased—that's not supposed to happen.

The city tin can salvage $45 meg a yr just by reducing the overtime levels to where they were in 2011. The Fire Department, for example, spent nearly $xiv,000 per employee on overtime in 2011; final yr, it was $twenty,000. Overall, betwixt 2022 and 2019, overtime spending per employee went from $half dozen,000 to $8,000.

LP: And that'due south while adding nearly 1,000 total-time employees in the terminal four years, right?

RR: That's correct, which is why we demand a citywide overtime coordinator charged with reducing and containing it. It won't be an easy thing to manage, simply we owe that to taxpayers earlier increasing their taxes.

LP: Then that'due south $45 million. What else you got?

RR: The other big item is, for some reason, at that place is a budgeted deposit into a recession fund for $50 million. To me, we're in the throes of an economic crisis correct now. If you're maxim, we need, on the city budget side, to enhance taxes past $50 1000000 and we're putting $fifty million away for some hereafter recession, well, that's not right.

At our recent town hall outcome, Rhynhart spoke to Larry Platt virtually Mayor Kenney's proposed taxation increases in the midst of severe economic downturn

LP: This is the get-go I'chiliad hearing of this. That'due south $95 million right there.

RR: And then nosotros're recommending a $13 million lower approaching increase to the Department of Human Services, keeping pre-Thou and Customs Schools funding at their 'xx levels.

LP: And so, wait, that sounds like a cut to Pre-One thousand, no?

RR: No, absolutely not. It is actually giving plenty funding to pre-G to meet what the mayor says he wanted in 'twenty funding, which is three,300 pre-Grand seats. In other words, the increase to DHS was $thirteen 1000000 more than what was needed to fund pre-K and Community Schools at their 'xx levels.

LP: Okay, we're at $108 one thousand thousand.

RR: I've also identified $8.3 meg in savings in the form of one-time IT costs to outfit 400 Due north Broad as the new police headquarters. Now that we're in this crunch, we're recommending delaying that and pushing those costs off.

And, and then, finally, there's $6.7 million budgeted for deposit into a labor reserve fund for hereafter wage increases.

The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative has put out guidance about how to govern during Covid, and the i all-time practice constant is that layoffs, raising taxes and severe cuts to services should exist the terminal resort.

LP: Wait, really? With this crisis already looming, the mayor just gave out raises to all four municipal unions, didn't he?

RR: Yeah, and to set aside more money for additional wage increases at this fourth dimension is just non appropriate.

LP: Okay, yous've gotten us to $123 million. By the mode, the mayor has said there would be a couple of hundred layoffs, but are they identified in his budget proposal? Should there be layoffs?

RR: How many are budgeted to exist laid off, or which departments, are really not clear from looking at the budget. Notifications of layoffs take started going out, which is very concerning, since instituting layoffs before the budget process is completed is not a all-time practice. Other cities, like Dayton, Ohio, are using furloughs instead. They're temporary, and they permit the employee to keep their health insurance and collect unemployment.

LP: And now that means an additional $600 per week.

RR: Correct. Furloughs are more strategic than layoffs, considering they're temporary and you lot tin can get workers back quickly to their jobs when yous're trying to recover.

LP: And so let me say how valuable a lot of this earthworks is. I pay shut attention to this stuff, and I had no idea well-nigh many of the line items you've highlighted. This is what nosotros accept a controller for, obviously. But I all the same have a concern. Our problems become beyond this one budget, and extend into the realm of vision and strategy and, literally, who gets to have input into the future of Philadelphia. This doesn't address our biggest threat, I fearfulness.

RR: No, you're correct, I've been calling this a transition upkeep. We have to accept a balanced budget past the terminate of June, and then we have no time to exercise the deep-swoop analysis in the next month to do what you've written near.

I completely concur with you. But allow's get through this transition budget with the least adverse effect on Philadelphia, and and so allow's movement to something like Action Based Budgeting, and permit's practice what you've argued for, bring in leaders from the business and civic community, open up our books and ask, "How can we practice better?"

LP: I've written a lot nigh Zero-Based Budgeting—what's Action-Based Budgeting?

RR: Information technology shares a premise with Zilch-Based—basically, permit'due south start from scratch. That guidance from Harvard and Bloomberg I mentioned talks virtually this. Information technology involves breaking departments down into their activities and judging whether they work or not. It's about funding what regime actually does on the basis of how it does it.

Whether you call it Null-Based or Activeness-Based, I'm saying our funding choices should be driven past looking at every action the city undertakes, every program it funds, and asking if it's accomplishing its goal? Is it driving the city forward?

LP: Thanks, Rebecca. One last question, and it goes to the question of your motive. What are you hoping to accomplish with these budget recommendations?

RR: To starting time a conversation. I'm not saying adopt my ideas. But permit's talk about this, because nosotros're facing a huge challenge.

Photo courtesy Jared Piper / Philadelphia Metropolis Council

hallbeher1968.blogspot.com

Source: https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/rebecca-rhynhart-budget-alternative/