PPA112107

The Daily News story: http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20071121_After_DN_story__PPA_cuts_use_of_company_cars.html The Inquirer below:http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20071121_After_DN_story__PPA_cuts_use_of_company_cars.html Posted on Wed, Nov. 21, 2007

=Parking agency cutting back=

The Philadelphia authority announced plans to save $1.4 million by moves including job attrition.
By Patrick Kerkstra Inquirer Staff Writer

In response to growing public pressure, the Philadelphia Parking Authority yesterday announced "initial" measures that will save it an estimated $1.4 million next fiscal year. The savings will come from reducing through attrition the well-larded ranks of the agency's administrative employees, and from taking away the personal vehicles of at least 18 managers and reassigning them for use in the field.

"These new measures are steps in the right direction that are part of our continued commitment to doing the best and most efficient job possible," authority executive director Vincent Fenerty said in a statement. The authority and its free-spending ways - on payroll, consultants and its SUV-laden vehicle fleet - have been the subject of a series of stories in The Inquirer and the Daily News in recent weeks. Citing those stories, Gov. Rendell has called for an extensive performance audit of the agency. Since state Republicans engineered a takeover of the agency in 2001, the Parking Authority has been growing at a furious pace - doubling in staff, taking on new responsibilities such as taxi regulation, and enjoying inflation-adjusted revenue growth of 54 percent.

Critics, however, note that the agency's surging profits are not being shared with the city and school district as much as was expected. For instance, revenue in the authority's parking enforcement division is up an inflation-adjusted 44 percent, while payments from the division to the city and school district have increased just 4 percent. Last week, the Daily News reported that the agency's top five executives were driving Ford Explorers to and from work, and that least 25 authority employees had take-home privileges.

Documents obtained by The Inquirer show that the agency's 275-strong vehicle fleet includes 36 sport utility vehicles, including eight Explorers, with a 2007 sticker price of $24,245. Yesterday, the agency said it would take away personal vehicles from "any manager who is not responsible for a department which operates on an extended work schedule." It was unclear exactly how many managers would lose their take-home privileges, but the authority said it would save $400,000 next year by forgoing the planned purchase of 18 new vehicles.

The authority did not provide an estimate of the number of administrative employees it expected to retire or leave next year, but it did predict savings of $1 million in salary and benefits given its plan not to replace departing workers. Any savings should in theory be passed on to the city or the school district (the schools gets all proceeds above $25 million from the authority's enforcement division), and the news was greeted with low-key approval by Helen Gym, an activist in the group Parents United for Public Education, which has been calling on the authority to produce money for the schools. "It shows there's been some attention paid to the public concerns that have been raised," Gym said. "We want them to push a little harder. We need to see some more steps forward."

Contact staff writer Patrick Kerkstra at 215-854-2827 or pkerkstra@phillynews.com. For the latest from City Hall, visit [|http://www.HeardInTheHall.com].