More than $13 million may seem like a lot of money.
But in terms of the city's $3.4 billion budget for the next year, it is the only extra money available to fund city programs and will force Mayor John Street to think about major changes.
The city will have only a $13.6 million surplus by the end of 2005, a stark contrast to the year 2000 surplus of almost $300 million.
The decreasing funds leave little room for extra spending and push the city to make big decisions about the years to come, as Street acknowledged in his annual budget address to the City Council last week.
"This is a very tough budget," Street spokeswoman Barbara Grant said. "We've got to tighten our belts [and] find ways to save every nickel and dime that we can."
In order for the city to reduce spending, Street has called for huge cutbacks across the city, including demolishing or restructuring recreation facilities and fire departments, decreasing funds for cultural institutions and eliminating 2,500 city positions.
The city is still "suffering from the effects of a national economic recession," Grant said, so the mayor had already been considering such drastic measures in other years as well.
"We've been better than most American cities," Grant argued, citing the 18 percent increase in taxes for New York residents.
So far the city has managed to maintain its tax break program, but the city government may have to increase many fees that the public pays. Grant said that some of these fees have not been adjusted in 10 years.
Additionally, public transportation costs could increase, but no final decision has been made.
City Budget Director Rob Dubow acknowledged the increase in pension costs as one of the largest factors in the decline of city revenues. Pension costs are increasing by 40 percent, while projected tax revenues are rising only 2 percent, according to Dubow.
"Everything else kind of has to give to make up for it," Dubow said of the pension costs.
While the city is planning to reduce staffing of some departments, Dubow noted that the city may increase emergency medical units, which are in higher demand than Fire Department vehicles.
"We want to make sure we don't sacrifice our core services," which include police and sanitation services, Dubow said.
Despite the large decline in the city government's surplus, the mayor plans to invest $500 million in riverfront development to make Philadelphia "the new river city in America," according to Grant, who argued that the city must make "those types of strategic investments" in order to help balance the city's future budget.
