The city would close
20 fire companies
and also eliminate
the fifth
firefighter from 60
engine companies
NY Daily News
1/28/10
Most
city workers
wouldn't get a raise
under the new budget
Mayor Bloomberg
unveiled Thursday
afternoon - unless
they work harder,
pay more for health
care or agree to
reduce pensions for
new employees.
Teachers would get a
2% raise, but only
on the first $70,000
of their salaries.
"The savings we
would make would
mitigate the need to
lay off 2,500
teachers," Bloomberg
said. "The world has
changed, and we have
to make a choice. Do
we want to pay more
and have 2,500 fewer
teachers, or have
2,500 more
teachers?"
The mayor had
previously budgeted
for 1.25% increases
for most
workers,
worth $190 million,
as well as hefty 4%
raises for teachers.
The money set aside
for those raises
would help plug a
deficit that had
been estimated at
$4.1 billion last
fall.
The rest is filled
largely by the deep
cuts Bloomberg
demanded from many
city agencies last
fall - and by tax
revenues that came
roaring back from
last year's gloomy
predictions,
reaching $1.7
billion more than
planned.
Those added up to
$2.9 billion in the
current fiscal year
that ends June 30,
and will be rolled
over into the next
year.
"We are using up the
entire surplus in
2011, and what's
worrisome is that in
2012, we are
starting with a
projected deficit of
$3.2 billion,"
Bloomberg said.
"Next year, any
deficit reduction
program is going to
be harder. We keep
getting closer and
closer to the bone."
Bloomberg's proposed
budget would spend
$46.5 billion in
city funds, which is
4.6% higher than the
year before - though
the city would
receive only $43.6
billion in revenue,
up 4.3%.
He wants to lay off
834 city workers -
including 299 at
libraries, 186 at
cultural
institutions and 141
at the Health
Department.
"We must find other
ways," said Harry
Nespoli, chairman of
the Municipal Labor
Committee, which
represents city
unions. "The
high-quality service
levels now being
provided by the
workforce will not
be maintained if you
are asking for
greater dedication
and more work, while
also seeking a
reduction in
benefits."
The city would close
20 fire companies,
up from the 16
Bloomberg wanted to
shut down last year
but were saved by a
transfer of funds
from the City
Council. The FDNY
would also eliminate
the fifth
firefighter from 60
engine companies.
"Each fire company
is part of a
complicated fabric
of fire protection,"
said Alexander
Hagan, president of
the Uniformed Fire
Officers
Association.
"Removing any single
stitch weakens the
entire cloth and
jeopardizes everyone
who lives or works
or enjoys
recreational and
cultural facilities
in the city."
The NYPD would lose
892 officers through
attrition, and trim
overtime by $25
million this year
and $50 million the
next - though the
agency failed to
meet cost reduction
targets last year.
Other city services
would suffer as
well. Four city
pools in the summer
and shorten the
season for the rest
by two weeks, to
save $1.4 million.
And elementary
schools with fewer
than 300 students
would lose their
nurses, to save $3.1
million.
Bloomberg largely
held firm on his
campaign pledge not
to raise taxes,
though he asked to
extend the city's
8.875% sales tax to
jet fuel at airports
- which would raise
$169 million last
year.
"We strongly oppose
any tax increase on
airline passengers,"
said airline
spokesman David
Castelveter of the
Air Transport
Association.
The mayor previously
told Albany
lawmakers that Gov.
Paterson's proposed
budget would starve
the city of $1.3
billion, forcing
more deep cuts -
like laying off
3,150 cops and 1,050
firefighters.
The budget will be
debated for the next
several months by
the City Council,
which has the
ability to shuffle
money around and
reverse some of the
smaller cuts.
Bloomberg's budget
template, however,
usually sets the
parameters for the
negotiations to
follow.
"Don't measure the
quality of city
services by the
level of city
spending," the mayor
said. "In a time
when economic
recovery is still a
future hope and not
a current reality,
we have to pull
together."
