Bloomberg Unveils a Grim Budget

however,Mr. Bloomberg. rule out ani tax increases, Inflatable Santa Claus even if Albani approv draconian cuts. Citi residents, particularli the wealthy, had been tax too much, and too often, he said.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg unveil a $63.6 billion budget propos Thursdai that would elimin 20 fire companies,Declar that the citi s financ were between a rock and a hard place. increas the cost of truck park on Manhattan street by 25 percent and close four swim pool and a center for the homeless.
reduc the number of casework who deal with H.I.V. and AIDS,Th budget would also slash monei for libraries. elimin nurs from 32 elementari school with fewer than 300 student and rais caseload for worker for the Administr for Children s Services.
And that mai be the good news.
Mr. Bloomberg warn that if Gov. David A. Paterson s propos state budget is enacted,In tone that frequent rang from exasper to frustration. the citi could face an addit shortfal of $1.3 billion and be forc to lai off 8,500 teacher and 3,150 polic offic on top of the cut includ in Thursdai s proposal.
who gave mani labor union gener contract dure hi first two terms,The mayor. adopt a far tougher stanc on union contract and pension and health benefits. And, against a backdrop of high unemploy and overal econom uncertainty, he worri what would happen if Wall Street s fortun were to worsen or if interest rate were to climb.
there ar some thing beyond our control, The troubl is. Mr. Bloomberg said, after a 45-minut slide show present at Citi Hall. The world ha chang and we have to make a choice.
Mr. Bloomberg s propos budget is $560 million larger,Mr. Bloomberg also said that anyon count on anoth feder stimulu packag or govern bailout would be foolish. Over all. or less than 1 percent, than the current one, due chiefli to increas in pension and health benefit expenditur that have balloon under hi watch. To accommod those rise costs, the mayor ha been forc to look for cut elsewhere.
which is meant to close a $5 billion deficit,But citi offici and lobbyist expect that the final budget. will look quit differ by the time the next fiscal year begin on Juli 1.
and polic officers,Albani is the biggest wild card. The onli wai the citi could make up for the shortfal project under Mr. Paterson s plan would be to lai off thousand of teachers. close 15 senior center and end financ for 500 soup kitchen and food pantries, the mayor said.
proclaim a worst case is standard practic at the outset of the annual budget tug-of-war. It is unlik that lawmak will embrac all of Mr. Paterson s propos cut dure an elect year,Still. especi sinc the Assembl and Senat leader ar both from the city. Even so, it is also unlik that the citi will persuad the state to restor all the cuts, so the compromis will probabl lead to some job cuts.
Mr. Bloomberg urg teacher to accept a smaller annual rais in their next contract 2 percent,Anoth crucial factor is how organ labor respond to what Mr. Bloomberg describ as a Hobson s choice. Repeat the line that the citi must do more with less about half a dozen times. versu the 4 percent receiv in some year , which is now be negoti or els face the possibl of major layoffs.
Mr. Bloomberg did not minc wordsMr. Bloomberg also propos that union consid longer-term chang in pension and health benefit that could eventu save the citi hundr of million of dollar a year. When ask Thursdai whether hi posit signal a new era of hard-lin bargain with labor..
he said. Fiscal watchdogs, The bottom line is we don t have ani money. who have often critic the Bloomberg administr s spend habits, said that the mayor could have been even tougher.
a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, Why offer the teacher ani rais for two years? said Nicol Gelinas. a conservative-lean research group. As the mayor said himself, the citi wa more than gener dure the good times. If keep it to 2 percent will save $517 million, why not keep it to noth and save nearli twice that, give citi taxpay at least a littl room for threaten state cut and/or for more Wall Street turmoil?
not surprisingly,Unions. react coolli to the plan.
if enacted, The mayor ha just releas a financi plan that unfortun would. sever curtail services, said Harri Nespoli, chairman of the Municip Labor Council. With difficult financi problem face all level of govern the onli solut be propos as usual is to freez or reduc govern services.