Philadelphia City Council approves fiscal year 2021 budget

Philadelphia City Council approved the fiscal year 2021 budget on Thursday with deep cuts which closes a projected $749 million budget gap directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The budget reduces funding to the Philadelphia Police Department by $33 million, funds important reforms in policing, restores $20 million to the Housing Trust Fund, earmarks another $25 million to reduce poverty and address disparities, and reduces some cuts to the arts and culture community.

"While the FY21 budget unfortunately has some deep cuts due to the fact that the City is constitutionally bound to pass a balanced budget, City Council worked tirelessly to restore some of the most painful cuts that were in the May proposed budget,” said Councilwoman Cherelle Parker. “I remain ever-focused on ensuring intergovernmental cooperation with our state and federal counterparts, and on advocating for federal funding to replace lost City revenues. My hope is that Congress comes through with some financial assistance this summer, and I am ready to come back immediately to restore cuts.

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The budget also calls for the following reforms inside and outside of the police department:

  •  Increasing the number of body-worn cameras for police officers
  •  Mandating implicit bias training for police
  • Engaging mental health professionals for police-assisted diversion
  • Hiring an Equity Manager for the police force
  • Transferring funding for crossing guards ($12.3 million) and public safety enforcement officers ($1.9 million) to the Managing Director’s Office (MDO)
  • Creating a Deputy Inspector General for police-related investigations (in MDO)
  • Funding a Police Oversight Commission ($400,000 to MDO)
  • Adding funding for the Public Defender ($1.2 million)

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