Got this late, on Wednesday.
Dear Lucas,
Just a few hours ago, we passed the City budget -- a $66 billion plan that saves 4,100 teachers whose jobs were on the line, keeps our fire companies open, and restores critical funds to senior centers, child care, cultural institutions and libraries. And the Council did all of these things without raising taxes or dipping any further into funds that we'll need to close projected deficits in the next several fiscal years.
This is a remarkable outcome, considering how dire the Mayor's proposals were and how challenging the City's finances are. The prospect of laying off teachers en masse and closing 20 fire companies shows you that we are facing extraordinarily difficult times. The budget will still result in the layoffs of 1,000 City employees, and next year's outlook still has our expenses outpacing our revenues -- which means we have a structural deficit that will need to be closed. Some estimates put the gap at nearly $5 billion for next year.
Unfortunately there continues to be a "budget dance" between the Council and the Mayor, whereby the Mayor cuts funds every year from the very initiatives he expects the Council to restore. While we have made some progress this year by ensuring that some of these priorities will be "baselined" in the Mayor's budget, this dynamic continues to marginalize the Council's efforts to be a true budget partner.
But today we officially saved our vital priorities.
Where Does Your Money Go? Some have asked me where the money goes. Well, the short answer is that the 2012 dollar goes to: --Education, $0.35 --Social Services, $0.20 --Administration of Justice, $0.17 --Environmental Protection, $0.05 --Fire, $0.05 --Health, $0.03 --Miscellaneous (labor reserves, general reserve, MTA subsidies, indigent defense), $0.03 --All other agencies, $0.11 --Higher education, $0.01 (Note, this reflects allocation of pensions, debt service, fringe benefits, judgments and claims and legal services to the agencies.)
Where Does Every Dollar in the 2012 Budget Come From? --Property tax, $0.26 --Other taxes and local revenues, $0.41 --State and federal aid, $0.28 --Prior-year resources, $0.05
More Budget News --257 pre-school classrooms were saved from closure; and --Some 9,000 child care slots and vouchers were saved. --The Council restored $20.5 million to cultural institutions, which almost fully offsets a reduction from last year's budget. --Libraries will stay open five days a week. --17 senior centers slated for closure will remain open. --The Council took $30 million from the Department of Education technology budget and will instead apply it toward the removal of PCB-contaminated light fixtures from 30 public schools. --$2.5 million was allocated to support domestic violence prevention and empowerment initiatives in high-incidence areas. --The Council allocated $2.5 million for adult literacy programs. --To combat hunger, the Council supported food pantries with over $2 million. --Portions of the budgets for senior centers, CUNY, the district attorneys and Sexual Assault Response Teams will be baselined.
Locally, the budget includes funds for legal assistance and advocacy for East Side tenants, support for beautification projects on the Upper East Side and Turtle Bay, $1.2 million for upgrades and renovations to East Side schools and much more. You can view the Adopted Expense Budget, which includes Council Members' discretionary allocations, here: http://council.nyc.gov/html/budget/PDFs/2012/FY2012ScheduleC.pdf . And, of course, feel free to contact me for more information on any area of interest to you. Many of us had hoped that the Capital Budget would not include funds for the construction of a waste transfer station on 91st Street, in the heart of a residential community and in close proximity to three public schools, a public park and a public housing development that is home to 2,200 people. Unfortunately, those funds were included. This is by no means the end of the fight though. We will continue to urge Mayor Bloomberg -- and future mayors -- not to spend those funds. And we will oppose the construction of the transfer station in court and in appeals to permitting agencies such as the Army Corps of Engineers.