[UC] Fw: Re: [phillyblocks] $10 Million to make Philly Wireless... No Money in budget for Firefighters

Thu, 02 Sep 2004 11:25:05 -0700

Here is some info on the proposal to make Philly Wireless
-Mark


-----Forwarded Message-----
From: Ed Schwartz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Sep 2, 2004 10:42 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [phillyblocks] $10 Million to make Philly Wireless... No Money in budget for Firefighters

At 06:36 PM 9/1/2004,  Maryann Trombetta wrote:
Where did Mayor Street "find" $10 million in the city's budget? Since
June, the city has said they must get rid of Ladder trucks and Pumper
Trucks because there is no money in the budget to keep the residents
in the city of Philadelphia safe. But it has $10 million to spend to
make Philadelphia the world's largest Internet spot.

Reply:

For those who haven't read it, Ms. Trombetta is referring to the annoucement today that the City is taking steps to provide outdoor wireless access throughout the City. The Philadelphia Inquirer carried a sizeable story and the Daily News strongly endorsed the project editorially and via the "Urban Warrior."

The $10 million in projected cost does *not* come from the City's general fund, which supports ongoing city services. It is a capital expenditure that is an entirely separate budget. Also included in the Capital Budget are Computer System Improvements and Interior and Exterior Renovations for the Fire Department. This budget cannot be used for operating purposes.







If the city has $10 milion dollars, it would be best spent on
Philadelphia "Homeland Security".

Reply:

The City doesn't have $10 million in its operating budget, as noted above. It is likely to raise federal and state support for most of this project, given the high level of interest in it.

What we have here is a huge investment in the future economy of the City. In the past two days, an Associated Press has run nationally and appeared prominently online yesterday. This morning, Mayor Street was interviewed by "Squawk Box" on MSNBC-a major national program aimed at business and investment. One the interviewers himself made the point that by doing this, Philadelphia was sending a strong message that technology companies were welcome here. We couldn't pay enough for positive publicity like that.

As to "Homeland Security."

The federal allocation to Philadelphia for Homeland Security is absurd. That's a subject for another post.

But as to the City's commitment in this broad area:

Out of $2 billion raised in local taxes (as opposed to funds coming from Harrisburg), more than $1 billion goes to the Criminal Justice System (Police, Courts, Prisons, DA, etc).

Even reduced, the Fire Department budget is $162 million--not counting the cost of benefits to Firefighters that appears as another 'line' in the City budget. $162 million is more than  the combined budgets of the Recreation Department, the Free Library, L&I, and the City's subsidy to SEPTA.

As to spending more money on 'security': The Police Department budget jumped from $363 million in FY98 to $481 this year--an increase of $118 million. The Prison budget rose from $113 Million in FY98 to nearly $180 million this year--an increase of $67 million. So together, the Police and Prison budgets have risen by $185 million over the past six years. No other budget has grown so quickly. In fact, the primary reason why the City has not been able to implement much of the Tax Reform Commission's agenda is the dramatic rise in the cost of our criminal justice system. Between lowering taxes and paying for more police and prisoners, we've paid for police and prisoners.


I am a life time resident of Port Richmond and I personally would
rather be safe and alive than to be connected to a computer.

Reply:

Who wouldn't? But we're paying plenty on crime--and not enough on investments that will strengthen the city's economy. And unless we start capturing our share of the new economy we won't have enough left in our dwindling tax base to pay for anything that we need.

Ed Schwartz


Maryann Trombetta
Port Richmond Community Group




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    Ed Schwartz, Institute for the Study of Civic Values, 1218 Chestnut St.,
    Rm. 702, Philadelphia, Pa. 19107 215-238-1434 [EMAIL PROTECTED]

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    "Citizenship is the American ideal. There may be an army of actualities
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                                   --G.K. Chesterton





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