by KYW's Mike Dunn
Scaling back on some campaign promises to slash taxes, Michael Nutter saw his first budget as mayor of Philadelphia get a preliminary approval from City Council on Wednesday.
Compared to budget battles of years past, Mayor Nutter faced relatively easy going in getting his first spending plan through City Council.
Council president Anna Verna, echoing a Nutter campaign slogan, says she trusts Nutter to spend what Council has appropriated, unlike past mayors:
"It's happened not only with John Street but other administrations, too. We would put (funding) into the budget and the departments would never be able to spend the money. So I think it's a new day."
Nutter did scale back his aggressive reductions in the business and wage taxes -- changes made necessary by declining revenues, particularly from the slumping real estate market.
Final approval of the $4 billion budget by City Council is set for May 22nd.
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