A single page in a 11/2-inch-thick financial audit released yesterday had City Council members scrambling to find out how much money was still available to acquire land for development in their districts. The answer: Millions.

The comprehensive audit, completed by City Controller Alan Butkovitz, marked the first full compilation of spending on land acquisition of former Mayor John F. Street's signature anti-blight program, the $296 million Neighborhood Transformation Initiative.

The 15-month audit focused on just an $87 million portion of land assembled since the program began in 2002. That job fell largely to the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority - which struggled to turn over paperwork for the audit because "the prior administration failed to provide adequate direction on what to report and how frequently to do it," Butkovitz told reporters yesterday.

The inconsistencies and lack of financial controls were plentiful, he added.

As a result, there has been considerable confusion for years over how many dollars actually remained for Council members to spend - until yesterday.

In all, $47 million in bond proceeds are still available, to be divvied up among 9 of the 10 Council districts. According to a partial account of how much money is available, First District Councilman Frank DiCicco has the most to spend ($5.5 million), followed by Seventh District Councilwoman Maria Quiñones Sánchez ($4.2 million) and Third District Councilwoman Jannie L. Blackwell ($4.1 million).

"I'm ready for that," Blackwell said. "I could spend it yesterday."

But it won't be that easy, or fast.

In May 2008, Mayor Nutter initiated a freeze on all NTI land acquisitions because of accounting lapses discovered by his senior aides.

The freeze is still in effect, and Nutter's chief of staff, Clay Armbrister - the mayor's new point man for all future NTI activity - could not say yesterday when it would be lifted. "I can't give a specific time," he said, noting that several recommendations in the controller's report must first be implemented to ensure greater fiscal controls.

Also, the administration and Council may have completely different notions about how the bond proceeds should be spent.

Armbrister suggested that the administration may have priority projects of its own that differ from those long-standing projects envisioned by Council members years ago when NTI first started.

"We will have to sit down with Council members to see the status of their particular project," he said, and "whether or not the pots of money can be spent in the way originally contemplated."

Finally, Butkovitz said, Council members who represent poorer areas may face difficulties spending the money. That is because the dollars stem from a bond that had strings attached requiring that land bought with the proceeds be sold later at fair market value.

"They won't be able to give people discounts and subsidies," he said, "so you may be sitting there with money you can't spend."

One potential obstacle has been removed, though: The Redevelopment Authority has halted plans it announced last spring to launch a widespread review of how all NTI dollars were spent. The review was to be led in part by city Inspector General Amy Kurland.

"Right now, our goal is to get the money issues fixed," RDA executive director Terry Gillen said. "Whether we move ahead with the audit down the road, I have no idea."

Council members continued to express impatience yesterday to see dollars begin to flow to help revitalize neighborhoods they represent.

"The mayor has always expressed an interest to have this money out on the street, but that has not translated into an ability to happen," said Councilman Darrell L. Clarke, who has $3.4 million to spend in his Fifth District. Frustrated the audit took as long as it did, Clarke said, he asked the mayor as recently as two weeks ago when the money would become available. "He said, 'I'll get back to you.' "

Continued delay also worries Clarke because he fears the city won't have available parcels in place to offer to developers in time to take advantage of federal stimulus money for various housing projects.

"We have a number of projects we want to move forward on," said Brian Abernathy, spokesman for DiCicco. "We have already spoken to the mayor, and hopefully NTI funding will be unfrozen."