A message from the Chamber’s President & CEO Rob Wonderling to our community about the upcoming Philadelphia City Council budget vote.
Dear Friends,
Why is this year’s budget so important? Because 2023 is coming fast.
In the coming weeks, Philadelphia City Council will vote on a budget that will set the city’s direction for the next two years as it allocates the $1.4 billion the city is due to receive as part of the American Rescue Plan (ARP). While much of the public debate has focused on whether the city should expand direct aid to residents that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic or make investments in business growth and job creation, in many ways, the most important question is, if Philadelphia emerges from the pandemic in the same condition as it went in, is that a success?
In two years, federal stimulus funding will run out.
Will the city have recovered enough to be a place where people want to live, work, and raise their family, where every community is included in the city’s progress and critically needed government programs for those in need are funded. Or will its budget be so constrained that leaders must choose to fund one program at the expense of another, raise the city’s already highest-in-the-region taxes on businesses and the middle class?
The answer to these questions is the difference between using the ARP funds to simply restore government services to what they were pre-COVID-19 and acting boldly to change the direction of the city by using the opportunity the unprecedented federal stimulus presents to increase the number of jobs for city residents and opportunity and equity for every Philadelphian.
Philadelphia cannot expect to continue doing what needs to be done in 2023 unless the city substantially increases its tax base – and that needs to start in this year’s budget by investing in economic development and job creation in every neighborhood.
2023 is coming quickly. Will Philadelphia be ready?
Your Chamber is part of a grassroots coalition that is advancing an equity and growth budget that leverages ARP dollars to reopen the city, stem the tide of gun violence, and spur job creation and an inclusive economic recovery through Wage and BIRT Tax reductions.
Get in touch with Will Carter (wcarter@chamberphl.com) to lend your voice to these efforts to make sure Philadelphia is ready for 2023.
Stay safe, connected, and healthy, and continue to let us know how we can help.
Rob
Rob Wonderling
President & CEO
The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia
