Philadelphia’s Neighborhood Transformation Initiative is down to its last few millions.
According to NewsWorks WHYY:
About half of the money left – $10.5 million – is sitting in accounts controlled by members of City Council.
As of this week, most had less than $1 million in available funds, though 8th District City Councilwoman Cindy Bass and 1st District City Councilman Mark Squilla have well over that.
Bass, whose district includes Germantown, Mt. Airy and Nicetown, has about $2.28 million. Squilla, whose district includes Center City and Northern Liberties, has about $3 million.
What could this mean for Germantown’s YWCA building?
Philly fund for razing, rehabbing abandoned properties running out
NewsWorks WHYY
By Aaron Moselle
March 5, 2015
After more than a decade, time is running out on the city’s Neighborhood Transformation Initiative – and fast.
The Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority will soon release what boils down to the final budget for NTI, an ambitious program launched in 2001 by former Mayor John Street to tackle blight in bruised slices of the city.
What was once a $297 million program now has $22 million left on the table. All of that must be designated for “shovel-ready” projects with clear budgets by the end of March… Read the full story at NewsWorks.org.