Legal News

Law Department Cuts Over $700,000 in Outside Counsel Fees

By Brian Harris

By Amaris Elliott-Engel
Of the Legal Staff
 
With continuing weakness in property and business tax collections, the city of Philadelphia is making more cuts in order to balance its five-year budget, including cutting more than $700,000 in the Law Department's expenditures on outside counsel, according to Stephen Agostini, Mayor Michael A. Nutter's budget director.

The administration also is cutting the Philadelphia Police Department's overtime budget by $6.3 million, which is 7 to 8 percent of the department's overtime budget, Agostini said.

It is too early to know how zoned courts in Philadelphia Municipal Court and Philadelphia Common Pleas Court might affect police overtime, Agostini said. Zoned courts are expected to be launched in the fall.

The Philadelphia Prison System is being cut $1 million, which has become possible because of a decrease in the current prison population, criminal justice leaders say. The prison population has trended downward because of a number of court programs that were implemented to move inmates through the system more efficiently.

The prison budget could be reduced further if more innovations are developed by the "prison working with the courts, the courts and the [District Attorney] working together," Agostini said.
The Nutter administration says it is making $20 million in cuts because the budget passed into law by City Council was short on needed revenues. Additional cuts are needed because of lower-than-expected tax revenue, said Rob Dubow, Nutter's finance director.

Business privilege tax revenue is $18 million below expectation, and property tax revenue is $15 million below expectation, Dubow said.

Full post as published by The Legal Intelligencer Blog on July 14, 2010 (boomark / email).