Nutter Weighs School District’s $103 Million Request

"There's no question the need is great."

Photo by Jeff Fusco.

Photo by Jeff Fusco.

Staring down a deadline to deliver his own 2016 budget request to City Council, Mayor Nutter is weighing a request from the Philadelphia School District for $103 million in new funds, KYW reports.

Because of that request, Nutter says his budget proposal remains unsettled: “What we’re trying to figure out right now is how to properly and in a sustainable fashion respond to the $103 million request. What would it be, what form would it come in, and do we in fact include that in the budget that gets submitted.”

Nutter is resolute that the requests need to be settled quickly: “The Governor’s budget address is on Tuesday, the 3rd. My budget address is on Thursday, the 5th. So all of this to some extent will be happening in real-time. We’re at a point where we need to address the budgetary request from the School District as early on as possible (and) identify those resources. We will collectively try to figure out how to do that. But there’s no question that the need is great.”


Options to raise the cash include tax increase, a reduction in city services, or (as KYW observes) “some combination of both.” The district is facing a budget deficit of $80 million, but is asking for extra funding to pay for proposed academic improvements.