Budget Process with Public Engagement
In order to close the $1.04 billion
projected deficit for FY10-14, the
Nutter Administration launched
Philadelphia’s most public and
transparent budget process to date.
There were several components to the
public outreach. Beginning in late
January, 2009, there were five
PhillyStat-style sessions on the budget.
The first two “Budget Stat” sessions
concentrated on a general overview of
Philadelphia’s demographics,
economic situation, and financial
structure. The following three
sessions then concentrated on a
specific area and its related challenges:
Public Safety, Economic Development,
and Health and Opportunity.
Concurrently, each department
submitted scenarios illustrating 10%,
20%, and 30% cuts, and their related impacts. These scenarios were posted
on phila.gov for public consumption.
"The crowd gathered at the second community budget workshop at Mastery Charter School in Germantown organized by Penn Project for Civic Engagement (Photograph courtesy of WHYY)
Using these same scenarios, the
Penn Project for Civic Engagement
and WHYY created a worksheet of
options that were representative of the
choices that the Administration faced
when addressing the deficit. These
worksheets were used in four
workshops held throughout the city.
During the workshops, the citizens in
attendance broke out into small
groups, where they discussed and
deliberated on the choices. Each
option was assigned a point value
reflective of its actual monetary value,
using a scale of one point being
equivalent to $2 million. The object
for each group was to reach 100
points, or $200 million – the average
annualized value of the five-year
deficit.
In each of the groups, there was
also a member of the Administration
present who was able to clarify
explanations, answer questions, and
listen to the priorities and concerns of
the citizens. Additionally, citizens were
given the option to voice their opinions
through video testimonials and the
“Wailing Wall,” where thoughts could
be posted anonymously in the form of
post-it notes. All of this information
and data was captured and analyzed,
and presented in a comprehensive
report to the Mayor.
Additionally, the Administration
sought input from three other sources
– individual members of the public,
the workforce and key stakeholders.
Mayor Nutter embarked on a personal
tour of the city, visiting diners, kitchen
tables, barbershops and family
basements to talk one-on-one about
what the crisis means to
Philadelphians and the city. The
Managing Director’s Office distributed
a survey to the City workforce asking
for recommendations on cost savings,
efficiencies, and duplication of
services. The survey yielded over 900
responses. Meanwhile, the relevant
Deputy Mayors and Mayor’s Office
staff met in small groups with key
stakeholders to give them the
opportunity to voice concerns and
contribute suggestions for handling
the financial crisis.
All of these forms of input
culminated in a final “Budget Stat”
session in early March, where
information from every aspect of the
public engagement strategy was
presented by the Mayor to the public
and City Council. Using this input, the
Mayor was then able to make the
decisions that are reflected in this
Plan.
