PICA praises Nutter on city finances

A day after challenging Mayor Nutter's revenue projections in the city's five-year plan, PICA chairman Sam Katz is patting the mayor on the back for stablizing city finances.

The Inquirer's Joe DiStefano on Tuesday wrote how Standard & Poor was considering upgrading the city's bond rating. That's a sign of more stable finances, and could make lower interest rates available to the city when borrowing for capital projects.

"In an environment where fiscal pressures on municipalities seem never ending, you and your team are to be commended for your performance and for the fact that the credit markets are recognizing it," Katz wrote in a letter Thursday.

Expect to hear often from Katz, appointed by Gov. Corbett on March 1st to the five-member PICA board and quickly elected its chair.

The Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority was created in 1991 to help bail Philadelphia out of a fiscal crisis. PICA is also authorized "to exercise certain advisory and review powers with respect to the City's financial affairs, including the power to review and approve five-year financial plans prepared at least annually by the City," as defined on PICA's website.

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