Budget season took a unique turn on Tuesday when the Administration, in council to testify on the upcoming tax legislation, found itself on the defensive when Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson called for a rare parliamentary maneuver compelling school district officials to immediately testify at the hearing.
The officials, Superintendent Tony Watlington and Board President Reginald Streater, were not even in the building at the time of Gilmore Richardson’s Point of Personal Privilege, but they appeared within the hour. The tone of the hearing changed notably due to questions about the district being forthcoming in both the facilities plan and the need for the proposed rideshare tax.
Councilmembers took umbrage with the notion that they are “anti-student” if they opposed the rideshare tax, which was increased from the originally proposed $.20 to a full dollar a week after its announcement. This was due to the Administration not learning the extent of the school district’s budget deficit until the day of the Mayor’s budget address.
Last week, Mayor Parker held a press conference that put pressure on Council to acquiesce to the increase, suggesting 340 district jobs could be lost if the tax was not implemented, At Tuesday’s hearing, the Administration was forced to admit no jobs would be lost if the tax was not passed. Instead, for reasons that remained unclear even after Dr. Watlington’s attempt to explain, the district employees, mostly classroom aides, would be reassigned to schools other than their current assignment.
Councilmembers did not hold back in their criticism of the school district’s approach, with Councilmember Quetcy Lozada expressing her displeasure with the tactics.
“I’m just trying to figure out this perception that city council doesn’t want to support children,” Lozada said. “Or that (we want 340) people to lose their jobs.”
Councilmember Jim Harrity was equally as blunt, informing the representatives from the school district he was not for a tax increase.
“I’m not going to be known as the tax man,” Harrity said. “I’m really appalled that the way it’s being played here is that if you’re not for the tax, you’re not for the children or the teachers. Everybody knows I’m for the teachers 100% of the time.”
It was during Harrity’s line of questioning that it became clear the proposed 340 job cuts would not actually occur, whether the tax was passed or not.
Deborah Carrera, the Chief Education Officer in the Mayor’s Office, said the district faced a continual 2000 teacher shortage each school year, which led Harrity to ask why, if there was a 2000 teacher shortage, then why would 340 educators lose their jobs if the tax didn’t pass.
“Numbers are numbers,” Harrity said. “And for me, this doesn’t add up.”
Carrera was then forced to admit the job losses would not actually occur.
“So those teachers who were saying that they would be cut, that means that they will be moved to other buildings,” Carrera said. “So I’ll say it again, they wouldn’t lose their jobs. They will be moved.”
Harrity, clearly exasperated, then addressed Council President Kenyatta Johnson.
“That’s all I wanted, Council President,” Harrity said. “There were never going to be any job losses here.”
Council’s reaction was justifiably annoyed, with members turning to look at one another when Carrera admitted there would be no job loss.
On Wednesday, the appointed day for the School District’s budget hearing, Mayor Cherelle Parker began the meeting, testifying before the council. Her appearance was not unusual in that the mayor, twice per year, is required to appear before council to discuss education funding.
However, Parker’s remarks, which lasted well over an hour, didn’t provide much of a change in posture, nor did the presentation soften the council prior to their questions of district officials. Parker addressed funding issues, but her take on the cause of the budget deficit was dubious at best.
“(Given the funding cuts at the federal level), how is the city of Philadelphia going to be prepared when we get hit by the federal government?” Parker asked rhetorically. “We’ve already been hit by the federal government. As soon as that $300 million in AARPA funds (were exhausted), that was the hit.”
The funds to which Parker was referring, $1.8 billion in non-recurring money, was required to be spent down by the end of 2024. At the height of the pandemic, the district decided to use $300 million of the funds to pay for staff positions, which was unusual because non-recurring funds do not exist past the sunset date. The district quickly realized they did not have a dedicated stream of funding specifically for the 340 positions. However, the district and the city both knew the funds would expire and not be renewed.
The Administration’s original Rideshare Tax fee was $0.20 per ride, as announced by the Mayor during her budget address in March. However, in the following days Parker made the surprise announcement the tax would increase to $1.00 per ride.
Council believes the tax is regressive, meaning it affects everyone regardless of ability to pay. Parker has maintained that the tax will only affect riders if rideshare companies choose to pass the cost on to riders, as opposed absorbing the tax themselves. Many companies have said they will pass the fee onto their riders.
“Those multi-billion dollar companies have a choice,” in passing the fee onto riders, Parker said.
It remains to be seen how council will act on the proposal, as many members are still chagrined over the tactics used by the Administration to promote the tax.
Council Questions Managing Director
In questioning the Managing Director’s Office earlier in the week, Council was concerned with public safety during the 250th Anniversary proceedings.
Council President Kenyatta Johnson asked Managing Director Adam Thiel what security precautions the city was taking to ensure the 2026 celebrations were well-protected, the conditions of city infrastructure, and the current status of the city’s Riverview Wellness Center.
“We have a war going on globally, and certain high-profile events and iconic events could be targeted,” Johnson said. “And obviously, we’re the birthplace of America. We have Independence Hall, the Art Museum, and a lot of institutions that could be prime spots as targets. What are we doing to be proactive to keep our residents safe and comfortable when they participate in these events?”
Thiel said his department had been working with city agencies and state and federal partners “for years” to understand the nature of a potential threat.
“This was going to be a safety and security challenge under the best of circumstances,” Thiel said. “And right now, we’re probably not in the best of circumstances. That said…I feel like we are well prepared for whatever comes.”
Councilmember Cindy Bass addressed a constant Philadelphia issue, the maintenance and repaving of streets, only to have them dug up again by another department to replace underground infrastructure.
“I talked about this earlier in the budget season with the Streets Department, (around who is responsible for coordinating services)” Bass said. “In my neighborhood they tore up all the streets, replaced them, and now it looks great. Then two years later they came back through and tore everything up for piping, which feels like an incredible waste of money.”
Mike Carroll, Deputy Managing Director for Transportation and Infrastructure said scheduling various repairs and improvements is handled by the Streets Department, who do their best to coordinate needed work while limiting the amount of times a street is paved.
“When we see conflicts between different jobs, the Streets Department directs those entities to work out their conflicts and get into a sequence,” Carroll said. “(However), particularly for the work the water department does, their plans change over time, because emergencies take place which changes the capital program. (Sometimes) it just can’t be helped.”
Councilmember Jim Harrity asked the Managing Director about the status of the Riverview Wellness Village, an inpatient treatment center for those dealing with drug addiction.
Isabel McDevitt, Executive Director of Community Wellness and Recovery, said Riverview is at 95% capacity.
“We have 234 beds licensed as recovery and have been at that 95% capacity since January of 2026,” McDevitt said. “We entered our first resident into Riverview in January of 2025, and had a small cohort that year. It took us until July to get to 100 residents. 70% of the (residents) have been with us for 90 days.”
McDevitt said another 51 beds would be available this spring, and that future building expansion would add 300 more slots to residential capacity. The current gender breakdown of the center is 75% men and 25% women, which mirrors the unaccompanied adult (homeless people with no children) street homeless population.
Legislation Passed Thusday
City Council passed two major legislation packages at its Thursday session.
The first, Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke’s Safe, Healthy, Homes legislation, passed with little opposition. The slate of bills does the following, according to information provided by O’Rourke’s office:
- A codified right to organize in a tenants association — making Philadelphia the largest city in the country to explicitly protect tenant organizing from landlord retaliation;
- Expansion of Good Cause Eviction Protections to all leases, not just month-to-month leases, as required by current law;
- City Council authorization of a proactive rental inspection program run by the Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I);
- Stronger accountability measures for landlords out of compliance with the city’s building code, with new standards for telling tenants when they cannot legally collect rent.
- Legislation championed by Minority Leader Kendra Brooks and Councilmember Rue Landau, known as the ICE-Out package, also passed. According to information released by Brooks’ office, the legislation does the following:
- ICE Out of the shadows: Prohibits ICE and other law enforcement agents from hiding their identity with face masks and unmarked vehicles.
- ICE Out of city data: Codifies executive orders banning 287(g) agreements, which allow local police to act as ICE agents, prohibits city agencies from collaborating with ICE, and prevents city agencies from collecting citizenship and immigration status data or sharing any kind of personal data with ICE.
- ICE Out of city functions: Prohibits anyone, including the city, employers, housing providers, or private businesses to discriminate or refuse services on the basis of citizenship or immigration status.
- ICE Out of city spaces: Prohibits ICE from using city-owned properties as staging locations for raids and prohibits employees from granting ICE access to city-owned spaces like libraries, shelters, health centers or rec centers without a judicial warrant.
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