On March, Mayor Kenney presented his final budget proposal to City Council. Throughout his address, he stated that he would like to prioritize short- and medium-term violence prevention and quality-of-life initiatives. The proposed budget has $6.1 billion in revenue and $5.6 billion in expenses, which leaves $524 million unspent. Below are some highlights of the budget proposal:

• Education: The proposed budget allocates $51 million to the Community College of Philadelphia. The proposal would also increase the city’s allocation to the School District of Philadelphia by $12 million to a $282 million contribution.  
• Housing: $3.7 million would be dedicated to expanding Right to Counsel for tenants in eviction proceedings citywide, and $6.7 million over five years would go towards 100 new housing units for people experiencing chronic homelessness.  
• Infrastructure Investments: The administration wants to create a new Transportation Fund that would dedicate $107 million towards services such as paving, crossing guards, and street lights. The Kenney administration is also proposing $80 million over the next two years for free public transportation for city employees and at least 25,000 Philadelphians living in poverty.
• Public Safety: The mayor’s proposal would put $855 million in the Police Department’s budget. 
• Tax Reductions: Mayor Kenney proposed reducing the resident wage tax from 3.79% to 3.7565% and the net income portion of the business income and receipts tax from 5.99% to 5.83%.

Budget hearings will begin later this month, and Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies will closely monitor them. City Council and the Kenney administration will negotiate over this proposal for the next few months. Councilmembers will likely advocate for additional funding for their respective priorities and debate the merits of changes to the tax code. The last scheduled City Council meeting for the spring session is on June 22, and a budget deal must be reached by June 30.