Sale of City Assets Part of Crisis Plan for Philadelphia
Spending cuts, the sale of city assets and $125 million in new taxes are needed to avoid a virtual shutdown of city government and to raise its low bond rating, state and local Democratic leaders said Friday.
The plan announced by Mayor W. Wilson Goode and other officials also would set up an independent control board whose authority would be triggered if the city failed to balance future budgets.
No City Council members or Republicans joined in the announcement, which left many details sketchy.
The Democrats urged a three-pronged attack:
--The city would issue $250 million to $300 million in temporary loan notes with backing from Merrill Lynch, local banks, the state treasury and the city’s pension fund. The money would allow the city to continue operating.
--It would eliminate a $229-million deficit, expected by July 1, by raising $140 million through deficit financing bonds and $90 million by selling city-owned assets, which were not specified.
--The city’s budget would erase a projected $279-million deficit for fiscal 1992 through new taxes, higher state and federal aid.
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