Mayor Parker’s own office got the biggest funding boost in her budget proposal

The $6.29 billion budget proposal that Mayor Cherelle L. Parker unveiled two weeks ago would keep the city’s overall tax and spending levels essentially flat compared with the current budget.

But one department would more than double compared with its original budget for the current fiscal year: the mayor’s office.

Under Parker’s proposal, the office would receive $15.2 million in the next fiscal year. That represents a 151% increase over its original budget for this year, the largest of any department.

The increase is almost entirely due to growth in the office’s personnel costs, driven in part by Parker’s creation of a series of new positions and teams that correspond with her campaign promises, such as the Office of Minority Business Success.

“The proposed budget for the office of the mayor is increasing because we’re doing big things in fiscal year [20]25, with many of them coming right out of the mayor’s office,” Tiffany W. Thurman, Parker’s chief of staff, said in an interview.

» READ MORE: Mayor Parker’s $6.29 billion budget plan keeps taxes flat, increases spending on police and code enforcement

In some ways, it’s unsurprising that Parker has gravitated toward a top-heavy administration. The mayor has said repeatedly that she is a process-oriented leader, meaning that she wants a consistent structure and as much information as possible before making major decisions, such as naming top appointees or crafting policy proposals.

Each new mayor shapes the top levels of city government to fit goals and style of leadership. Former Mayor Michael A. Nutter funneled much of his administration’s through newly created deputy mayor positions, and he was known to be a hands-on manager through those appointees. Former Mayor Jim Kenney grew the managing director’s office over the course of his tenure, reflecting his penchant for delegating to the operational side of government.

In last year’s budget negotiations, Kenney and City Council agreed to a $6.1 million mayor’s office budget, which includes the mayor’s top advisers, policy experts, and the city’s liaisons with the state and federal governments. The budget has grown over the course of the year, which is common, and the city now estimates it will spend $8.2 million by the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

Even compared to that adjusted amount, Parker’s proposal is 86% over current estimated spending levels. That’s the second-highest increase of any agency behind the Office of Children and Families, which spends less than $1 million of city money a year.

» READ MORE: What kind of mayor does Cherelle Parker want to be?

The mayor’s office staff would jump from 39 budgeted positions to 113 under her budget, an eye-popping increase.

Some of the new positions, such as an expansion of the policy planning team, are in line with behind-the-scenes work typically associated with the mayor’s office. But Thurman emphasized that many of the new initiatives that will be housed in the mayor’s office are operational and will have a direct impact on Philadelphia residents and businesses.

A new program called PhillyStat360, for instance, is designed to connect geographic police data with the delivery of other city services. Chief legal counsel Kristin Bray will lead it, and the program will include 14 other mayor’s office staffers.

“What we’re doing is funding dynamic programs that will make life better for Philadelphians,” Thurman said.

Another cost-driver is likely to be increased pay for mayor’s office staffers.

”We’re also looking at our competitive edge … and ensuring that salaries are competitive,” Thurman said. “It’s important for municipal leaders and those in the mayor’s office to represent what we’re seeking here, which is the best and brightest in leadership.”

The mayor’s office is small compared to other city agencies — the police department, for instance, is poised to get $877 million under her proposal — so any funding increase will have an outsized impact on its bottom line.

But the growth in her own office’s budget and the size of her staff is nonetheless unusual. In the first two years of Kenney’s administration, the office budget ranged from $4.3 million to $4.8 million, and its staff topped out at 50 budgeted positions.

Parker has named a trio of top aides she calls her “big three” — Thurman and chief deputy mayors Sinceré Harris and Aren Platt — who each have separate portfolios and staffers of their own, all of which are part of the mayor’s office.

Other new positions and teams she has created directly include the mayor’s business roundtables, Bray’s position as chief legal counsel, the Office of Neighborhood and Community Engagement, and the Office of Strategic Partnerships, which coordinates with the corporate and philanthropic sectors.

Parker is also expanding existing teams within the mayor’s office, including the chief integrity officer’s staff, and Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Thurman said.

Mustafa Rashed, a Parker supporter who owns a Philadelphia-based lobbying firm, said building out the top rungs of city government — and, given the tight labor market, increasing pay for those staffers — is necessary for Parker to achieve her goals.

“There are a number of new positions for the things that the mayor campaigned on,” Rashed said. “They’re looking for people who will work in city government, which is not always an attractive thing to do, so you need to be competitive.”

Graphics editor John Duchneskie contributed to this article.