On March 13th, Mayor Parker announced her budget proposal for the City with a dangerous plan to cut business taxes and let the largest corporations off the hook for paying what they owe, while increasing the tax burden on small businesses. The impact of this proposal would make it harder for our communities to get the essential services and programs they need to thrive in the years to come.
We are domestic workers, retail workers, mental health workers, and teachers. We are union members, and co-op workers. We are renters and homeowners. We come from families that have been rooted in Philly for centuries and we are new immigrants. We have the solutions that our families and communities need. It’s time for City Council and Mayor Parker to listen to the people. We need the budget to be about us!
We still have questions about what’s in the budget proposal (and what’s getting left out). While our community of researchers takes a closer look, we’re clear on what our communities need to be more safe, healthy, and whole.
✸ ✸ ✸ What’s in the People’s Budget? ✸ ✸ ✸
Investment in Public Health, Not Overpolicing
Everyday, thousands of Philadelphians are harmed, surveilled and separated from their families by police and incarceration. Nearly 30% of Philly’s budget is allocated to the Philadelphia Police Department, jails, and criminal legal system. The city can divert this overspending away from the bloated police budget to life-affirming public health services that will bring about true public safety.
- $20M for Mobile Crisis Units
- $20M for Community-based violence prevention and restorative justice grants
- $1.35M for CPOC to perform independent investigations
- No increases to the police budget
- End recruitment efforts for 1000 new officers, which would save the City $200M
- Reduce overtime spending which accounted for $195 million in 2024 (22.4% of total budget)
- No new funding for surveillance technology, including body worn cameras, drones and CCTV cameras
- No funding for neighborhood “wellness courts”
Dignity for Immigrant Communities
As attacks on immigrants escalate, Philadelphia needs to stand firm in its commitment to protecting immigrant communities. In the face of Trump’s agenda to conduct ICE raids especially in sanctuary cities across the nation, the City needs to provide more legal aid, making sure to keep families united. We are calling on Philadelphia to equip schools to protect immigrant children who are even more vulnerable to trauma and who are falling through the cracks.
- Increase funding to the Philadelphia Immigrant Family Unity Project (PAIFUP) by $1.8 million to support the Defenders and other immigrant programs
- $2 million for 3 Newcomer programs in the Philadelphia School District
Safe and Equitable Work
Protect workers and provide pathways to controlling their labor. Fully fund the Office of Worker Protections to ensure that some of our most vulnerable and essential workers have workplace protections when they are exploited by their employer. Worker cooperatives create long-term job stability, workplace satisfaction, safer working conditions, equitable wealth-building, and community control for local ecosystems and neighborhoods.
- $3.1 million for the Office of Worker Protections
- $1.3 million for grants and technical assistance for Philadelphia cooperative businesses
Safe Healthy Homes
There is a housing safety crisis in Philadelphia. Working class homeowners and renters across our city are living in dangerous, unhealthy, and life-threatening conditions in our homes and are being pushed out of our neighborhoods due to the harmful impact of corporate landlords and predatory developers left unchecked. Black homeowners and renters are disproportionately impacted by the housing safety crisis. We are calling on City Council to put people over profit by investing in safe, healthy homes for all to protect the health and safety of low-income homeowners and renters.
- $10 million for L&I to launch a pilot proactive inspection program for rental code enforcement
- $10 million for Philadelphia Energy Authority’s Built to Last home repair program for low-income homeowners and clean energy initiatives
Fully Funded Public Spaces
For over 40 years the City has failed to meet its obligation to fund ⅓ of the operating budget of the City’s College. When the City doesn’t fully support its College, CCP students pay the cost. Additionally, our parks, recreation centers, and libraries are the frontline that connects our communities to resources and city services. All the neighborhoods we serve across the City deserve to be fully-funded and fully-staffed.
- $15 million increase for the Community College of Philadelphia to support fair wages for CCP’s staff and faculty, smaller class sizes and more staff to support student learning
- $2 million for SEPTA passes for students, faculty, and staff
- $100 million for Parks and Recreation to fund staffing, equipment, maintenance, and programming
- $25 million increase for the Free Library
For many working class Philadelphians, getting online is still a barrier for them and their families. In 2025 this creates a real challenge for communities looking to access opportunities and information, with Black and brown communities being mostly impacted. The city has invested in expanding broadband access through the PHLConnectED program, which provides free internet for students, and other crucial programs that have helped to get everyone online. This budget season we are calling on City Council to commit to fund and expand those programs.
- Protect the $1.78 million in the current budget for PHLConnectED, which supports low income Philadelphians to get online access
- Fund 20 more seasonal staff for computer labs that train Philadelphians with lower literacy, English language learners, and low income community members to get online at 20 community centers across the city.
- $1m for digital skill training at job training, community center, and library settings citywide
Equitable Tax Policy
After decades of tax giveaways and attempts at “trickle-down economics,” big corporations and developers need to pay their fair share in taxes. Without taxing big businesses, our city loses critical funding for our essential city services, such as libraries, parks, and streets.
- No tax giveaways to big business – no cuts to the BIRT or wage tax
- Wage Tax Credit Exemption for low income Philadelphians
- Tax the ultra rich like through a wealth tax
Join us in the fight to win the budget our city deserves! There are many ways to get involved, have your voice heard in the budget process, and grow your leadership.