Budget Cut Memo Raises Concern In City Council
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City Council members are expressing concern about a directive from Mayor Bloomberg’s budget office that asks city agencies to identify possible budget cuts.
The directive comes about two months after Mr. Bloomberg projected a $3.9 billion surplus for fiscal year 2007 and proposed a 5% property tax cut.
The chairman of the council’s finance committee, David Weprin, said yesterday that the directive surprised him. He said the mayor’s budget director, Mark Page, told his committee earlier this month that there was no need to consider cuts to agencies.
“He did make it clear that this year was different” because of the surplus, Mr. Weprin said. “It just doesn’t seem to make any sense to me.”
The memo that directed city agencies to draft cost savings proposals was signed by Mr. Page. It says: “Although the city’s economy has done quite well over the last three years, prudence would suggest we recognize that the good times do not last forever and plan accordingly.”
All city agencies, except the Department of Education, have been told to submit proposals by March 28 to cut 1.5% of their city-funded budget for this year and 4% in 2008. The memo asks that the reductions have little or no impact on direct services to the public.
Although proposals for cuts are being sought, the memo states that no final decisions have been made about the level of reductions.
“It appears that Wall Street has entered an uncertain and rough patch,” a spokesman for the mayor, Stuart Loeser, said. “We have to plan for it.”
He said that since the mayor’s preliminary budget projections, the city has reached a tentative contract agreement with the firefighters union, which is projected to cost about $20 million this year and $60 million in 2008. The city also has outstanding contracts to negotiate with other employee groups.
The chairman of the council’s public safety committee, Peter Vallone Jr., said he is concerned because public safety agencies already are strapped for resources.
“The safety of the public should have nothing to do with the success of Wall Street,” he said.
