Philadelphia City Council preliminarily approves Mayor Parker's $6B 'One Philly' budget

PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia's City Council on Thursday preliminarily approved Mayor Cherelle Parker's $6B "One Philly" budget which vows to follow through on key campaign promises. 

Parker and Council President Kenyatta Johnson discussed what they called a "historic budget agreement" in a press conference Thursday morning.

The budget, which totals exactly $6.37B, green-lights a "wide array of important initiatives and decisions" and earmarks over $2B in spending over six years on each of Parker's five core pillars of public safety, clean and green energy, economic opportunity, and housing and education. 

In a release shared with the media, the Parker administration highlighted an agreement made between the mayor and city council to increase the Homestead Exemption by $20,000. They say it's a "key step to help homeowners save on their property taxes at a time when property assessments are expected to go up." 

The Parker administration also touted an agreement on low-income property tax relief, which, paired with adjustments to the Homestead Exemption, is believed to freeze property tax increases for low-income homeowners. 

"I said in March, ‘Don’t just listen to what I say, watch what we do’. I hoped we would work together with diplomacy, diligence and purpose to implement a budget for the People of Philadelphia," Mayor Parker said. " Today, we have shown the people we have done just that. This will be the standard operating procedure for my administration working with our partners in City Council, to serve all of Philadelphia."