Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker signs $6.37 billion 'One Philly' budget into law

PHILADELPHIA - It was a joyous day for Philadelphia's 100th mayor as she signed her "historic first budget" into law at City Hall on Friday.

Mayor Cherelle Parker was joined by Council President Kenyatta Johnson, other members of City Council, and Parker administration officials during the bill ceremony for her "One Philly Budget" for Fiscal Year 2025.

The budget, which totals exactly $6.37 billion, green-lights a "wide array of important initiatives and decisions" and earmarks over $2B in spending over six years on each of Parker's five core pillars of public safety, clean and green energy, economic opportunity, and housing and education. 

"Residents will be able to see, touch, and feel the positive impacts of this budget in their neighborhoods, along their commercial corridors, and throughout Philadelphia," Parker said.

Here's what was signed into law as part of Parker's budget:

Homestead Exemption increase: To protect homeowners from rising property tax bills, the Mayor and Council have increased the Homestead Exemption from $80,000 to $100,000. This will provide a savings of up to $280 on homeowners’ property taxes. 

Low-income tax freeze: A freeze in property tax increases for low-income homeowners. 

The budget also includes $1 million in additional funding for outreach by the Revenue Department to ensure eligible homeowners access and benefit from these programs.

Public Safety ($636 million operating and capital over the Five-Year Plan (FYP) and Capital Program)

• Hiring 400 Police Officers; increasing the size and frequency of recruiting classes.
• Expansion and addition of new training for community policing.
• Reducing violent crime through more strategic deployment of personnel; technology upgrades to support investigations; increasing funding for anti-violence grants to nearly $28.8 million.  
• Combatting open-air drug markets. 
• $100 million investment to begin building a citywide wellness ecosystem, supporting long-term care, treatment, and housing.
• Addressing crimes against property and quality-of-life offenses, such as illegal use of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), car meetups, retail theft, and nuisance businesses.
• Hiring additional victim advocates.
• Revamped COMPSTAT process to use data in prevention and enforcement.

Clean & Green ($477 million operating and capital over the FYP and Capital Program)

• Launching new citywide Cleaning and Greening program, with the goal of cleaning every city block in Philadelphia over the summer.
• Expanding PHL Taking Care of Business (PHL TCB) to residential areas/streets adjacent to targeted commercial corridors.
• Piloting twice-weekly trash collection in areas with most challenging trash/litter conditions.
• Addressing quality-of-life issues, like illegal dumping, abandoned cars and litter.

Economic Opportunity ($306 million operating and capital over the FYP and Capital Program)

• $10 million to support workforce development and employer partnerships that include commitments to employment, not just a revolving door of training programs. The funding will be used to train Philadelphians for careers in industries that are already thriving and those that are projected to grow, including the building trades, logistics, and life sciences and biotech.
• Launched New PHL Open for Business: all-of-government effort to reduce the cost and complexity businesses face when navigating City government.
• Building Infrastructure for Collaboration: Offering new models of collaboration through Business, Faith-Based, and Intergovernmental Mayoral Roundtables, focused on developing solutions to shared challenges.
• Cultural Facilities: $1 million each for the Dell and the Mann to support capital needs.

Education ($293 million operating and capital over the FYP and Capital Program)

• Increase in millage share that goes to the School District from 55 to 56 percent. The ‘One Philly’ budget makes over $24 million in new investments in the District for FY25, and nearly $129 million over the Five-Year Plan.
• Supporting K-12 Schools: Provides young people with extended-day, extended-year enrichment and career development opportunities; and addresses the urgent need for school facilities improvement.
• Launching City College for Municipal Employment: A Community College of Philadelphia (CCP), City, and School District collaboration and first-of-its-kind pipeline to City jobs that will recruit people at the start of their careers, support those seeking to up-skill, and help expand access to opportunity.
• An additional $5 million in operating support for CCP.

Housing ($100 million operating over the FYP)

• Housing Production and Preservation: Continuing investment in housing through programs like Turn the Key; Restore Repair Renew; and Basic Systems Repair Program (BSRP) - building towards the mayor’s goal of 30,000 units of housing built, repaired, or preserved.
• Housing Production: Ensuring City-supported new housing is "affordable luxury" with high-quality fixtures and finishes; comprehensive review of Land Bank aimed at more quickly returning parcels to productive use; $14 million for rebuilding of University City Townhomes.
• Housing Preservation: Making it easier for residents and landlords to access City-funded home improvement programs through a Single Home Improvement Application (SHIA); $5 million to Philadelphia Energy Authority for Built to Last home repair program; $750,000 for tangled title support at the Register of Wills. 
• Rental Assistance: $19 million to support rental assistance programs.
• Access to Homeownership: Institutionalizing Philadelphia Home Appraisal Bias Task Force within City government to help implement its findings; supporting Philadelphia Human Relations Commission (PCHR) to focus educational and enforcement efforts on eliminating home appraisal discrimination.