[NYAPRS Enews] BN: New York City Must Raise Taxes, Cut Jobs, Mayor Says

[Matt Canuteson]

New York City Must Raise Taxes, Cut Jobs, Mayor Says  

By Henry Goldman Bloomberg News November 5, 2008

Nov. 5-New York City, reeling from financial turmoil on Wall Street,
must roll back a property tax cut and reduce its workforce by 3,000 to
help shrink a $4 billion budget gap over the next 18 months, Mayor
Michael Bloomberg
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Michael+Bloomberg&site=wnews&clien
t=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter
=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1>  said. 

The job cuts, including the firing of 500 workers, and a 7 percent
property tax increase starting in January, were included in a budget
modification plan Bloomberg presented in City Hall today. They represent
part of an effort to save $1.5 billion to offset projected tax revenue
declines. The city faces $3.1 billion less in revenue in the year
starting July 1 than last year, the mayor said. 

``There is no magic answer,'' Bloomberg, 66, said. Even with the savings
and tax rollback, the mayor projected a $1.3 billion budget gap for
fiscal 2010 beginning July 1. 

New York, dependent upon Wall Street for at least 9 percent of its tax
revenue last year, may lose as many as 147,000 private sector jobs
trough 2009, Bloomberg said. A report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New
York last month warned of spreading job losses and a prolonged recession
amid the spreading impact of Wall Street's falling profits. 

``There's something that's happened in the economy nationwide, and
particularly to us, that requires us to make these very difficult
choices,'' Bloomberg said. 

Pension Losses

Pension funds have been hit by market losses estimated at 20 percent in
the current fiscal year, which may force the city to make additional
contributions, Bloomberg said. He expects city payments for pensions and
health benefits to grow to $16.2 billion from $11.2 billion for the
period from last year through fiscal year 2016, he said. 

With the state's budget deficit ballooning to at least $12 billion next
year, according to Governor David Paterson
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=David+Paterson&site=wnews&client=w
news&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&
getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1> 's predictions, less state aid will be
available for city schools, Medicaid reimbursements and other services,
Bloomberg said. 

Bloomberg called for the city to reverse a 7 percent across-the-board
property tax cut enacted two years ago on Jan. 1, rather than July 1,
2009, as previously planned. That would add $576 million. He also seeks
to rescind a $400 homeowner rebate, producing $256 million. 

``We cannot justify sending out the checks,'' Bloomberg said. 

``We are troubled by the proposed withdrawal of the $400 homeowner tax
rebate,'' Council Speaker Christine Quinn
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Christine+Quinn&site=wnews&client=
wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p
&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1>  said, adding that she has scheduled
hearings for Nov. 18 on Bloomberg's proposals. ``We also have questions
bout how budget cuts will affect education, public safety and public
housing.'' 

Too Generous

Carol Kellermann, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, a
non-partisan business sponsored fiscal monitoring group, said the mayor
should have called for changes to the city's pension and health benefits
programs, which she characterized as too ``generous.'' 

The mayor should have also called for more productivity and sacrifice
from the city's more than 300,000 employees, Kellermann said. 

``Changes to the generous pension and health insurance benefits should
be a major element of the city's response to these difficult times,''
she said. 

Other council members vowed a fight over the mayor's call to rescind the
$400 rebate for apartment and home owners instituted in 2004. 

``The mayor is reneging on a promise he made to the homeowners of this
city, with dubious moral or legal authority to do that,'' said Finance
Committee Chairman David Weprin
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=David+Weprin&site=wnews&client=wne
ws&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&ge
tfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1> , a Queens Democrat. 

Police Academy

The cuts include canceling the Police Academy'
<http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/home/home.shtml> s January 2009 class
with a reduction in the department's 35,838-person headcount to save
$116.7 million over 18 months; cutting the Fire Department's training
academy to 18 weeks from 23 weeks to save $9 million; reducing
operations at five engine companies in firehouses that also contain
ladder companies for a $13.5 million savings, and closing a 44-site,
$2.5 million Health Department dental program
<http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/hca/oralhealth-clinics.shtml> , the
mayor's office said. 

The mayor and City Council enacted a $59 billion spending plan for the
fiscal 2009 budget year that began July 1. In September, Bloomberg
directed all agency heads to trim their budgets by 2.5 percent for the
remaining six months of the current year, and 5 percent for fiscal 2010.


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aJ6DKkWEqrOE&refer=u
s
<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aJ6DKkWEqrOE&refer=
us> 

-----

New York Cuts Staff To Deal With Deficit

UPI.Com Nov. 5, 2008

 

An administration official says New York City will reduce its $4 billion
budget gap by cutting staff and canceling January's Police Academy
class. 

The official told the New York Post Mayor Michael Bloomberg
<http://www.upi.com/topic/Michael_Bloomberg/>  plans to reveal other
belt-tightening measures, including slashing the training regimen for
new firefighters from 23 weeks to 18 weeks and reducing night-time
operational hours at five engine companies.

Workforce cutbacks will number about 3,000 with the Department of
Education being the hardest hit with a reduction of 475 jobs, the Post
reported Wednesday.

Other budget measures involve wiping out dental care at 40 sites
operated by the city's health department, leaving 127 positions in child
protective services unfilled and reducing seasonal positions at parks.

The $400 annual rebate to owners of small homes is also in jeopardy,
sources told the Post. 

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/11/05/New_York_cuts_staff_to_deal_with_
deficit/UPI-10291225913004/

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://kilakwa.net/pipermail/nyaprs_kilakwa.net/attachments/20081106/b1cb460a/attachment.html>