Mayor Nutter's Valentine's Day present to City Council comes Thursday morning when was scheduled to deliver his first budget as mayor.
No flowers or candy from Mayor Nutter to City Council, but he was likely to stick to his refrain -- that he needs to work with Council members, not against them -- as the budget process begins.
Nutter indicates that the city's finances are tight and this will be a lean budget:
"We have some tough choices to make. We're seeking to make smart investments. And we're trying to secure the long-term future of the city. Those are the guiding principles of this budget."
Nutter will set aside cash for more police officers and a beefed-up EMS system. He'll also step up something he championed as a councilman: further reductions in the city's business taxes.
All this will be tempered by the national recession and declining real estate tax revenues in the city.
Sources tell KYW Newsradio that Nutter is likely to try offsetting the business tax reductions by boosting the tax paid by drivers who park in off-street garages. John Street proposed a similar plan three years ago but City Council rejected it.
