New Philadelphia Budget Game

If you aren't happy with Mayor Michael Nutter's proposed Philadelphia budget, you can create your own. The Economy League, with funding from the Lenfest Foundation, has developed a computer simulation that lets you use realistic data to balance the budget, deciding what to cut, what to keep.

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Technology constraints meant that including every department and every possible item was not practical for this online simulation. Best efforts were made to strike a balance of choices that include “hot buttons,” such as libraries; departments with large budgets, such as police and fire; and general administrative areas. In all, there are 5 revenue categories and 10 spending categories, each with several options among which to choose, including several from Mayor Nutter’s March 19 budget address.

To inform the decision-making, the pros and cons for each option appear as well as factual backgrounders for more detailed information. In addition, a number of online resources are linked from the Challenge, among them a Roadmap to the Philadelphia Budget Process describing its components and key points in the process of creating it.

The Economy League recognizes that there also are long-term constraints to the city’s budget. The Challenge, however, focuses primarily on short-term actions that can be taken immediately or nearly immediately. Challenge-takers have the chance to express their views on long-term, fundamental restructuring at the end of the Budget Challenge.

The Lenfest Foundation funded the Philadelphia Budget Challenge. Key partners in the project include the Fels Institute of Government and the Penn Project for Civic Engagement, both of the University of Pennsylvania, as well as the Philadelphia Budget Office and the Managing Director’s Office.

The Economy League licensed the prototype from Next 10, a Palo Alto organization that in 2005 created its "California Budget Challenge" to engage more Californians in the budget process. The original software was developed by Red Hill Studios, and additional development for the Philadelphia Budget Challenge was created by Rock River Star, Downingtown, PA.