Daily News""de Blasio Budget Fantasy Numbers" Does Not Take Into Account Federal Trump GOP Congress Budget Cuts
Push comes to budget: Mayor de Blasio's fantasy numbers (NYDN) de Blasio’s first whack at a city budget for the year to begin in July might as well have led with a PowerPoint slide labeled “Here be dragons,” so turbulently do winds blow from a very loud and now very powerful New Yorker recently relocated to Washington. With $23 billion in federal funds on the line in the mayor’s $85 billion budget plan — for schools and roads and public housing and hospitals and more — and with congressional leadership keen to team with President Trump to cut government spending, planning a local budget turns to an exercise in darkly speculative fiction. Also helpful, in principle, will be the mayor’s conservative growth estimates, commitments to trim spending at city agencies and plans to work with public-sector unions to lower the high cost of providing health care to city workers. Even so, in city funds, next year’s proposed budget is up nearly 4% over this year’s executed budget — a rate that outstrips inflation. And de Blasio launched his city into political winter too thinly clad, thanks to costly choices made earlier on. In 2014, the mayor resorted to creative budgeting to fund contracts with hundreds of thousands of municipal workers (whose numbers, by the way, continue to grow). He now declares $3.4 billion in health care savings conceded by the unions, when in reality their bulk came from insurance premiums predictably lower than the city claimed. With leverage thus squandered, it’s hard to see what his fresh pledge to work with city employees to find more such savings will yield. And where in tough times Mayor Mike Bloomberg demanded targeted cuts from each city agency ahead of the preliminary budget, de Blasio has yet to lay out a plan, promising only to figure out soon how to save $500 million. The mayor was left assuring New Yorkers Tuesday that Trump and his cabinet will think twice before eviscerating the city the President hails from. But even if federal funding gets a reprieve, slowing local tax collections necessitate retrenchment regardless. De Blasio will need more than hope to pay the bills. *
City Spending Money Like A Drunken Sailor As Tax Revenues Fall
Greener eyeshades: Fiscalclouds on the de Blasio horizon (NYDN Ed) Is the free-spending, hiring-happy de Blasio administration ready for a potential economic downturn? A couple of admittedly small clouds on the horizon force a reality check. City Council analysts noted a decline in tax revenues between April and August — down 0.9% from the same period last year. Meanwhile, September unemployment jumped up to 5.8% — up from 5.2% that month a year ago — even as the share of the population in the labor force fell. Still, it’s the job of city budget wonks to gird obsessively for the bad times even when the good are rolling. That’s not happening nearly enough. Instead of being on notice to demonstrate efficiency, agencies have been encouraged to spend. The city’s hiring is surging to an anticipated target of 323,000 by next summer — well above the pre-recession record set in 2008. As the Citizens Budget Commission noted earlier this year, the de Blasio Citywide Savings Program for is a paltry 0.6% of city-funded spending.* Nicole Gelinas writes in the Post that Wall Street’s first increase in profit in four years is not flooding the city’s coffers with cash, and it may not be enough to counteract the de Blasio administration’s uptick in spending.
Mayor's 2017 Budget $900 Million Hospitals and Pensions Bailouts Limits New Money
De Blasio presented a proposed budget mostly devoid of new broad liberal initiatives that have been the hallmark of his tenure, underscoring a recognition that the city may be headed for an economic downturn, The New York Times reports:
NYc Mayor Bill de Blasio laid out a $82 billion preliminary budget for FY 2017 that has a few new initiative, including $5.4 million to improve ambulance response times.* De Blasio is concerned by the news that Cuomo’s proposed budget relies on $650 million that some budget experts contend rightly belongs to New York City .State Senate Budget Analysis Questions Homeless Funding (YNN) * Budget insiders took notice of the especially sharp critique of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s new fiscal plan by the financial and legal experts who work for the Senate Republicans.* De Blasio Wants toGive Public Hospitals the NYCHA Treatment (NYO) Mayor Bill de Blasio said today he would make major changes to the Health and Hospitals Corporation—saying the city’s public hospital network would need to undergo a restructuring similar to his “NextGeneration” overhaul of the city’s public housing authority. “Health and Hospitals is going to have to transform its operating model intensely—because the current situation is not sustainable,” Mr. de Blasio said today during his presentation of the preliminary budget for fiscal year 2017.* De Blasio’s budget allots $337M for struggling hospitals (NYP) The city is pumping an extra $337 million into the municipal hospital system to keep it afloat, Mayor de Blasio announced Thursday as he presented his $82.1 billion preliminary spending plan for fiscal 2017. The Post reported last month that the $7 billion system was running out of cash — with a deficit projected to reach $2 billion by 2019, according to state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.* Budget insiders took notice of the especially sharp critique of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s new fiscal plan by the financial and legal experts who work for the Senate Republicans.* If only Mayor de Blasio’s budget matched his rhetoric (NYP Ed) Let’s face it: De Blasio intends to hike city-funded spending 2.5 percent this year. That would make his bottom line more than 10 percent higher than Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s final spending plan. That figure is certain to go even higher after he finishes granting the City Council many of its fiscal wishes. Yet inflation has been running at less than 2 percent a year. Meanwhile, de Blasio faces big risks — for example, by counting on Albany for funding that’s not in Gov. Cuomo’s budget. And the mayor’s own numbers project gaps of $2 billion and up, starting just a year after next. If the economy sours too much or too soon, and those gaps aren’t closed, New York ’s in deep trouble.* Mayor unveils $82B budget for 2017, plans investment in Staten Island Ferry, jails, schools (NYDN) * N.Y.’s good-time mayor (NYDN Ed) At first blush, his starter budget for the year beginning in July appeared remarkably restrained for a mayor who had previously boosted spending by as much as 7% annually. By one happy measure he had gone up by less than 1%; by another he had stayed below 2%. But when you stripped away accounting maneuvers and funds provided by the state and federal governments, de Blasio is actually looking forward to hike city outlays by 4.5%. That’s more than double the rate of inflation. And more than double the 2% cap on spending growth Gov. Cuomo has imposed on state government as well as on other localities. Whammy one: The already enormous cost of city pensions is jumping by $600 million to $9.3 billion, based on a recalculations of how many years municipal retirees are projected to live. * Whammy two: The public hospital system is in such dire fiscal straits that de Blasio is doing a bail-out with an immediate injection of $327 million. Together, the pension and hospital hits, totaling $900 million, explain why de Blasio managed only sprinklings of new money — $4 million here and $10 million there for initiatives like a mental health hotline and expanded gunshot detectors. Clearly, the hits also forced him to stop bolstering reserve funds that serve as a cushion in downturns and help meet future unfunded liabilities.* * New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s $82.1 billion preliminary budget includes targeted spending for mental health services and homelessness while also trying to keep the Health and Hospitals Corporation afloat, (C&S)* The mayor is boosting the Department of Correction budget by $60 million, part of which will be used to hire hundreds of new officers, a key part of his 14-point anti-violence agenda to reform the troubled city jail, Politico New Yorkreports: * The Republican-led state Senate's response to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's budget laid bare major points of contention over education, including restoring school aid cuts and creating a tax credit for school donations, Politico New Yorkreports: * State tries to claw back $650M from New York City (PoliticoNY) * City Council pleased with de Blasio’s budget proposals (PoliticoNY) * Jockeying for position over horse carriage bill (PoliticoNY) * De Blasio Reveals Budget For 2017, Vows To Fight Cuomo "By Any Means Necessary": Mayor de Blasio announced on…
Budget deal that mandates the hiring of an additional 1,300 police officers
NYC Tax Revenues $4 Billion Ahead of Projections
@joshgreenman How will de Blasio explain 1) initially saying no need for new cops, 2) agreeing not only to 1,000 Bratton wanted, but 1,300? * New York City ’s surprising move to hire 1,300 new police officers, which de Blasio had opposed but conceded to after a rise in homicides and shootings, The New York Times reports:
Council gets money for more summer youth jobs and 6,000 new year round youth jobs * Lunar New Year to be a public school holiday (NYP) * NYPD looks to add thousands of new body cameras (NYP) * What happens to @BilldeBlasio "firm OT cap" on #NYPD if there is another event like 9/11, for example?* The NYPD will hire almost 1,300 more cops, under a $78.5 billion budget deal struck by NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. The deal is a concession that follows months of the mayor insisting the city didn’t need any more officers and the money should go to other budgetary needs. * De Blasio has an unlikely ally in the NYC mayoral control debate: Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, who says the law should be made permanent. * @Azi BDB said Bratton’s vision wasn’t clear on 5/7 Bratton unveiled new patrol plan,in January * Why'd de Blasio sign OK 1,300 new cops after monthsinsisting we didn't need & couldn't afford them? He ain't saying. (NYDN) * A look at the politics behind @BilldeBlasio's ramp-up of
It Was Budget Saving Not Increase Shooting That Sealed the Deal On More Cops
Mayor @BilldeBlasio says there have been meetings with the @CommissBratton in recent weeks and new cost savings that changed his mind* The mayor said hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons had called to apologize for calling him a “punk,” and he has accepted that apology. * Police add more cops on trains to fight rise in subway crime (NYDN) * De Blasio to add nearly 1,300 cops to NYPD for 2016: sources (NYDN) * NYPD to get 1,300 new police officers under latest budgetdeal: (DNAINFO) * The new officers are a significant win for Mark-Viverito, who pushed hard for a larger department during closed-door budget negotiations in recent weeks, according to sources. Asked repeatedly why he changed his stance, de Blasio said Mark-Viverito made a strong case and spoke favorably about the “neighborhood policing” program, which de Blasio said will allow officers to better know their precincts and improve police and community relations. * “For the first time in recent history, New York City beaches will not close on LaborDay. At the urging of the City Council, Mayor Bill de Blasio has allocated $687,000 to keep the beaches open seven additional days this year, Karen Hinton, a spokeswoman for the mayor confirmed Monday night. The Council has also restored $8.7 million in funding for the Parks Department, which will enable it to avoid laying off 150 gardeners and maintenance workers. That $8.7 million has been a key demand of parks advocates.”* @BilldeBlasio @NYCCouncil make budget deal w/1,300 more cops at $170M (Newsday) * Activists Blast Mayor and Speaker for Adding 1,300 NYPD Officers. Mayor: 300 New Counter-Terrorism Cops Weren’tAdded for a ‘Specific’ Terror Threat (NYO) * With deal to hire 1,300 cops, de Blasio admits there's a problem(NYP) * BdB signature affordable housing plan jeopardized by Cuomoprevailing wage push. For bkrnd, smart @JonLemire read
de Blasio Budget Busting Hiring Spree
Bill de Blasio'sbudget-busting hiring spree (NYDN) Since de Blasio took office, the city payroll has soared from 297,148 to 313,092 workers, with a target of 323,000 by next summer, representing a rate of growth that matches or exceeds the pace of private sector job creation. The hiring spurt is unsustainable, excessive and dangerous. At the same time, de Blasio has boosted the payroll without engaging in the constant belt-tightening that brought efficiencies under former Mayor Bloomberg. The consequence is that the mayor too often relies on new hiring to launch new programs or, he hopes, improve service delivery. Twelve city agencies are forecast to add more than 300 full-time and full-time-equivalent positions by next summer. Those include the Administration for Children’s Services (which already benefited from more caseworker hires a year ago), Department of Sanitation, the Department of Citywide Administrative Services and the Department of Buildings. As night follows day, the budget will rise — now and into the future in terms of increased pension, health care and other obligations. “Every hire is $100,000 a year, in cost of compensation,” notes Carol Kellermann of the Citizens Budget Commission. Since taking office, de Blasio has enjoyed good economic times and increasing revenue. When the music stops, watch out.
More On the City Budget
De Blasio’s budget puts
Looks More Like Final Budget Deal With Council Will Include More Cops
NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton is in discussions with Mayor Bill de Blasio about adding hundreds of officers as the mayor faces pressure to reverse his stance on not hiring more cops, The Wall Street Journalreports: Tish James predicts @billdeblasio will increase police head count:
More on the NYC Budget
Council Wants A Piece of the Mayor's Budget
Good Economy More Welfare?
Welfare rolls increasing in city, even as economy improves (NYP) Manhattan Institute found. The rise comes even as the city’s economy has prospered — some 90,000 jobs were added in 2014, according to the “Poverty and Progress in New York ” report being released Tuesday. “If government dependence on welfare is rising in a good economy, what’s going to happen in a bad economy?” wondered study author Stephen Eide, who said the trend was antithetical to data dating back to around 1960.
City Billion to Court Settlements
Minority teachers file $300M suit claiming licensing test bias(NYP)
de Blasio's Madness, Fantasy, Wish List, Delusional State of the City Speech
From the NYT: He made no mention of last year’s bitter struggle with the Police Department, or the spike in shootings and homicides in January that runs counter to the crime statistics he cites so proudly and often. There was little talk of street homelessness, but he mentioned an effort to house homeless veterans. Also left unsaid was how he was going to enlist help from state government. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who seems to love cutting the mayor down to size, wasted no time in declaring on Tuesday that the Sunnyside Yards plan was unworkable because the state has other plans for the property. Housing fantasies: The hole in de Blasio‘s ‘big idea’(NYP) *Address: Full of Ambition, but Light on Details (NYT) Mayors often use their annual speech to outline a raft of proposals, but Bill de Blasio spoke mostly about a plan that would transform neighborhoods from Staten Island to Brooklyn.* De Blasio’s speech focused mainly on housing. It was big on ambition and light on details.*Activists Trash Billde Blasio for Neglecting NYPD Issues in State of the City Speech (NYO)* Mayor de Blasio on his ferry plan: ‘If you build it, they will come’(NYDN)
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The mayor appears addicted to blurting out preposterous, fantastic proposals, and then backing them up with faux-enthusiastic guff that only the most uncritical progressive could possibly swallow
Mayor Blue Sky (City Journal) Bill de Blasio’s empathy agenda for New York City New York City mayor Bill de Blasio delivered hisState of the City speechthis week after his first full year on the job. The address, along with various media follow-ups, demonstrated that his administration is focused almost exclusively on one thing: making New Yorkers understand how much Bill de Blasio cares. The mayor appears addicted to blurting out preposterous, fantastic proposals, and then backing them up with faux-enthusiastic guff that only the most uncritical progressive could possibly swallow. In de Blasio’s world, the sun is always just about to come out. Everything’s going to work out great.
Homeless Population Up 10% This Year and the Press Prints the Mayor Press Release About Fighting Homelessness
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s budget plan directs $295 million toward expanding the city’s select bus service lines, which he seeks to add 13 routes to by 2017, the Daily News reports:
Why is the Homelessness Up? No Answer - Up because of Gentrification and the failure of the affordable housing program to keep up with low rent apartment being taken off the market
New York City Reaches Out to Homeless People Who Are Wary of Traditional Shelters (NYT)The Department of Homeless Services will devote more resources to “unsheltered homeless” people this year, allocating more than $45 million in city and state funds, up from $35.5 million the year before. While NYC officials maintain that the number has remained relatively stable for the past few years — hovering at just over 3,000 — the city’s Department of Homeless Services will devote more resources to unsheltered homeless people this year, allocating more than $45 million in city and state funds, up from $35.5 million the year before.* In de Blasio’s Budget Plan, an Emphasis on Public Safety and Social Programs(NYT) Mayor Bill de Blasio’s initial plan for the 2016 fiscal year relies on prosperity to support a budget that includes no tax increases and virtually no service cuts. * Despite pressure from NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton and the New York City Council, de Blasio’s preliminary budget does not propose bolstering the police force, the Daily News reports: * De Blasio was right to mention substantial economic risk while unveiling his budget, but the danger comes from decisions made last year when the city signed unaffordable labor contracts, Nicole Gelinas writes in thePost: * Speaker @MMViverito commends budget plan but 'disappointed' by omissions Is the Council and Mayor Playing Good Cop Bad Cop? To give the council something to pass the budget? City Council Still Wants Mayor Bill de Blasio toAdd 1,000 New Cops to Budget(NYO) * Increase in Budget for Rikers Is Applauded (NYT) The administration indicated that most of the money would go toward reducing the use of force by correction officers, hiring new guards and improving programs for young inmates. Speaker's State of the City Council Speaker Seeks Criminal Justice Reforms in State of the City Address (NYT) Melissa Mark-Viverito called for nonviolent, low-level offenders to be issued a summons and cited for a violation, rather than be arrested and charged with a crime.In her State of the City speech, NYC Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito took aim at the “broken windows” approach to policing, proposing a significant easing of penalties for certain minor quality-of-life offenses like jumping turnstiles.d get
More on the Council's Budget Fight With the Mayor
A budget battle between de Blasio and the City Council is resulting in large budget cuts to nonprofit groups like Catholic Charities, which they warn will hurt the elderly, the Daily News reports:
$20 Million for New Summons Court In the Municipal Building
City will spend $20million to renovate space in Municipal Building to house Summons Court:officials (NYDN) The city sold the building where Summons Court was located to a developer. Now, the Summons Court will be housed in the 16th-floor of the landmark Municipal Building
City Doing Deficit Financing
The city has agreed to allow the state comptroller’s office to have a veto over city budgets for the next 10 years as a condition of obtaining emergency deficit financing.
Magic or Budget Gimmicks? Nobody Will Tell Us - All In the Tank
NYPD adding 1,000 more patrol cops at no extra cost to the city: Police Commissioner Bill Bratton(NYDN) * City's $75 million budget stirs concerns over increased spending among watchdogs(NYDN) * Paying Bill’s bills (NYDN)Mayor de Blasio and the City Council feted their budget agreement Thursday night with self-congratulation and upbeat talk about new initiatives, such as improved mental health care for Rikers Island prisoners and more police in public housing. Completely unmentioned was the worrying reality that overall city spending has ballooned by $5 billion — or 7% — since this time last year.* Some Fiscal Watchdogs Call City Budget Agreement 'Prudent' NY1 * Impact of $75-billion budget deal unknown for city(Newsday) Comptroller Scott Stringer, an ally of the mayor's, said Friday the budget is "financially prudent but also goes to help a lot of people in the city who are struggling." But he said he wants to see future budgets identify and cut inefficiencies and waste.* DE BLASIO – Top of WSJ Greater New York cover, “In Budget Lovefest, De Blasio Is Adored,” by Michael Howard Saul: “On Thursday night, Mr. de Blasio and Ms. Mark-Viverito … announced they reached a deal on the budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. It marked the denouement of the least contentious budget season in recent memory. Nicole Gelinas, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, said the deal ‘clearly shows that the mayor is the dominant political figure on the city scene.’“‘Both sides say they eliminated the budget dance,’ said Ms. Gelinas, referring to the historical process of the mayor eliminating council priorities and the council restoring them. ‘But this was a budget dance, and the mayor won it.’
“Ms. Mark-Viverito defended the deal as an "incredible victory," but some members of the council voiced disappointment with the outcome. At least one openly wondered whether the council was doing enough to act as a check on the mayor. ‘The jury's still out with regards to the council ensuring its own institutional clout in the city,’ said Councilman Vincent Ignizio of Staten Island, the council's GOP leader.” * Mayor and NYC Business and their best behavior. But it won'tlast as they debate the tough issues @
City Budget Agreement - Hugs and Kisses and . . .
Since NYC Grew Out of New Amsterdam the City Has Had Over 350 Budgets, Yesterday Budget Makers Think They Made History?
Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and de Blasio seal a budget deal with a hug and a kiss. Via @GloriaPazmino:
NEW YORK CITY HAS A BUDGET -- Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito announced an on-time, $75 billion budget that includes increased funding for Rikers Island, safety initiatives at NYCHA, and free school lunch for all middle school students as part of a pilot program. The mayor however, did not concede to the council’s request for 1,000 additional cops. Capital’s Sally Goldenberg and Gloria Pazmino report: * Bill de Blasio and City Council Share the Love With Budget Deal(NYO)
-- 200 cops, not 1,000 -- The New York City Police Department will pull police officers currently working desk jobs to put them back on the beat. The move will only cost the city $6 million, instead of the projected $94.3 to pay for 1,000 cops. Despite the news, Mark Viverito still hailed it as a win: "It is a true victory for all our communities who are going to see these additional personnel in our local precincts," Mark-Viverito said.
-- Libraries take hit (sort of) -- Neither side mentioned the request for approximately $65 million to add to the budget of the city's public libraries, but when asked, de Blasio acknowledged that libraries were not given enough additional resources to provide six-day service for all branches in the city. The lack of funding means some libraries will not be able to open a sixth day and others will not be able to meet hiring needs. Libraries committee chairman Jimmy Van Bramer said the baselined library budget was a “step in the right direction.
-- Pilot lunch program for now: De Blasio cited concern over federal funding dollars as the reason for not implementing free universal school lunch. For now, the city said it will test the waters by launching a pilot program to provide free lunch for middle schoolers as soon as this september at a cost of $6.25 million.
When Brooklyn Merged With Manhattan No Hugs and Kisses
The mayor and City Council announced an agreement Thursday night on a $75 billion budget deal, the first of the de Blasio administration.
The budget was approximately $1 billion more than preliminary budget, which was set at $73.9 billion.
The City Council had asked for 1,000 new police officers, but the deal will put 200 officers who are behind desks back on the streets, with 200 civilians hired to back-fill those positions.
The Council had also asked for free lunch for all city students, but the deal includes free lunch for all middle-school students. The deal also includes cash to keep 57 New York City Housing Authority community centers open. Member items for the City Council are still in the budget, though the mayor had said during his campaign that he wanted to get rid of them.* Mayor de Blasio, City Council announced on-time $75 billion budget(NYDN)* City officials reach a deal on $75B budget(NYP)* IT'S A DEAL: Mayor de Blasio, City Council agree to $75 billion budget giving middle-schoolers free lunch, adding 200 cops * The City Council extracted almost $33 million in funding to combat violence and mental illness at Rikers Island—the largest dollar figure attached to any priority in the $75 billion budget agreement from last night, the Observer reports:
What Happens to the Poor If the City Runs Out of Money? . . .
The city school system is losing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding because it can’t get its act together to file the required paperwork, a new budget analysis has found. The Department of Education is failing to collect Medicaid reimbursements for special-needs students who take part in programs such as speech and occupational therapy, said city Controller Scott Stringer. “This is bureaucratic inefficiency when you can’t submit federal paperwork and you leave hundreds of millions of dollars on the table,” Stringer said.
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* New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer released an analysis of the city’s modified FY15 executive budget, which takes into account the fiscal impact of labor agreements and better-than-expected tax revenue that has narrowed out-year budget gaps: http://goo.gl/z1f8w6
Stringer Budget 180: No Deficit Problem After Accounting Correction
Comptroller Scott Stringer pushed back after investment firms cut back on buying municipal bonds, and he pointed to a new teachers contract to show that the city has its finances in order Controller Stringer looks to soothe investor worries over city bonds as deficit is projected to grow to $3.2B(NYDN)
Sal Albanese
DEB organizes private group to
push for his "agenda" I have suggestion do your job, gain trust of NY
& they will follow. Stop campaigning
A Budget That Breaks Accounting Rules Followed to Ensure the City Does Not Go 70s Bankrupt
Key questions de Blasio won’t answer(NYP) Here are some of the questions the mayor won’t take — including several
that his staff has seen but refuses to answer. The questions concern the
mayor’s unprecedented attempt to delay until 2020 paying teachers for the work they already did
in 2009 and 2010. And while he may try to claim these are minor,
technical accounting issues, they cast grave doubt on whether the mayor
understands — or cares — that keeping New York from going broke is not a
simple task: Here are some of the questions the mayor won’t take — including several
that his staff has seen but refuses to answer. The questions concern the
mayor’s unprecedented attempt to delay until 2020 paying teachers for the work they already did
in 2009 and 2010.
What Will the Puppet Council Do About the UFT Contract?
And
while he may try to claim these are minor,
technical accounting issues, they cast grave doubt on whether the mayor
understands — or cares — that keeping New York from going broke is not a
simple task: If the city already owes the teachers this money for work
already done
but won’t pay them until the future, isn’t the city just borrowing from
the teachers rather than from more sophisticated bondholders? Who is not
leveling with the public: the teachers’ union, telling people
they’re “entitled” to pay for work they’ve already done — or your
budget director, who told a closed-door crowd of elites last week that
“the payments are earned in the year they are received” — that is, in
the future, not in the past? How much will the new teachers’ raises add
to future pension costs — a cost that future mayors (and taxpayers) must
pay? After Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008, New York muddled through
partly
because Bloomberg, during the good years, had socked away an $8 billion
cumulative surplus. During your good years, you’re socking away future
deficits. What do you say when and if Wall Street crashes —
statistically something that no successful mayor avoids?
Daily News: A Contract Or A Fairy Tales?
Teachers' Pet
@nicolegelinas So I think your figure on the cost of the union deals is low. JUST the @UFT deal is est to be $9b
A Budget That Breaks Accounting Rules Followed to Ensure the City Does Not Go 70s Bankrupt
What Will the Puppet Council Do About the UFT Contract?
Daily News: A Contract Or A Fairy Tales?
Teachers' Pet
Vested with mayoral control over the schools as the means to raise
student achievement, Mayor Bill de Blasio has chosen instead mayoral
collaboration with the teachers union.
The Daily News writes that Mayor Bill de Blasio’s generosity to UFT President Michael Mulgrew
can be seen in two ways: As a payment for political support and as
proof that de Blasio has a fairy-tale belief that labor peace will
prompt teachers to improve their teaching, thus improving learning: * Contract Less Instruction Some parents are upset that the new
New York City teachers contract eliminates 150 minutes of additional
weekly instruction for struggling students and instead dedicates time to
teacher training and parent engagement or other professional work, the Post reports. *The Pre-K Expansion Will It Work? There is enormous pressure on Sophia
Pappas, head of the New York City Office of Early Childhood Education,
to make expanded prekindergarten, a major campaign promise of Mayor Bill
de Blasio, work, the Journal writes: * .Where is the Emergency Financial Control Board?
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s solution in his contract with New York
teachers was to promise retroactive pay now and pay it later. States and
local governments routinely fudge the numbers like this.
Mr. de Blasio, a liberal who ran with strong support from unions, wanted
to provide retroactive pay, but the city is not exactly flush with cash
to hand out. So his solution was to promise retroactive pay now and pay
it later.* BUDGET REWIND — Fred Siegel and Nicole Gelinas in WSJ: “That
the city could not afford raises without equivalent savings is obvious
from the de Blasio budget. Mr. de Blasio was able to balance the budget
for fiscal 2015 thanks largely to revenue coming in $1.2 billion higher
than Mr. Bloomberg's conservative projections. But the $9 billion net
cost of the labor blowout over the next four years—including the cost of
similar deals Mr. de Blaiso expects to do with the rest of the city
workforce—has shot holes in future budgets. … The projected budget
deficit for fiscal 2016 has doubled to $2.2 billion. The budget gap for
fiscal 2018 has gone up eightfold, to $3.2 billion.“To make the numbers work, Mr. de Blasio is taking New York City's budgeting practices way back—before
Mayors Rudy Giuliani, David Dinkins and Ed Koch —to before 1975. To pay
teachers retroactive annual 4% raises for 2009 and 2010, Mr. de Blasio
will do something the city hasn't done since it recovered from its
near-bankruptcy in 1975: borrow to pay for new obligations. Mr. de
Blasio begins paying teachers the promised $4.3 billion in back pay in
2015, and he won't finish paying this bill until 2020.” * De Blasio’s plan to pay for labor
contracts that boost New York City’s deficit is causing UBS Global Asset
Management Americas Inc. and RidgeWorth Capital Management Inc. to
reduce holdings of city debt, Bloomberg news reports: http://goo.gl/RtnWaA
* Bank of New York Mellon in deal to sell NYC headquarters(WSJ)* Financial firms scale back New York municipal bond holdings fearing proposed teachers’ contract could raise deficits(NYDN) *-- De Blasio brushed off the news, per Capital’s Sally Goldenberg: "I want to emphasize to everyone here, there's a difference between the financial firms you describe versus the ratings agencies. … Individual firms will make individual firm decisions for whatever strategic reasons they have. That's not an indicator of something bigger."
* Bank of New York Mellon in deal to sell NYC headquarters(WSJ)* Financial firms scale back New York municipal bond holdings fearing proposed teachers’ contract could raise deficits(NYDN) *-- De Blasio brushed off the news, per Capital’s Sally Goldenberg: "I want to emphasize to everyone here, there's a difference between the financial firms you describe versus the ratings agencies. … Individual firms will make individual firm decisions for whatever strategic reasons they have. That's not an indicator of something bigger."
Daily News Says De Blasio First Budget A Lot of High Hopes
A budget balanced on ifs(NYDN Ed)
The Daily News writes that Mayor Bill de Blasio’s first budget is balanced with a lot of hopes that he’ll be able to pay for raises to municipal employees with savings on healthcare * De Blasio Unveils $73.9 Billion Budget, With Focus on Schools and Housing(NYT) * de Blasio unveiled his $73.9 billion executive budget, which included significant new expenditures in education, housing and municipal payrolls, but little in the way of savings or additional revenue raisers, de Blasio’s proposal offers an early glimpse at New York City’s commitments to its unions.* Council Members Preview Mayor’s Executive Budget Plan(NYO) * The full Exec Budget, including summary & Mayor's Message, are now online: * De Blasio Budget Projects Raises for City Workers(WSJ)* Mayor de Blasio unveils his "fiscally prudent" $74 billion budget (NYDN) * In the absence of assistance from Albany, de Blasio allocated $145 million in city funds to after-school programs for middle schoolers.* numbers you won't see in press release: $2B+ deficits in outyears, $500M drawn from reserves:(Capital) * One Big, Happy Budget(NYT Ed) Uncertainties aside, there is a lot to like in Mayor Bill de Blasio’s budget proposal.* De Blasio Budget Projects Raises for City Workers * De Blasio’s $73.9 Billion Budget Gives More, With Few Cuts(NYT) * $17.75B for labor deals in
Citizens Budget Comm
After @BilldeBlasio’s budget release, questions remain about health care savings: "A lot could go wrong…we'd be stuck with a much bigger...
In the wake of the deaths of three children, Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered the hiring of 362 new staff members for the Administration for Children’s Services, the Daily News writes: *Really fine news(NYP Ed) The new budget has total fine revenue dropping 8 percent, to $789 million from $859 million. Fines from the Health Department, such as at restaurants, dip 44 percent. And fines from Consumer Affairs will go down 21 percent. This has to be music to the ears of thousands of Gotham’s mom-and-pop shops and eateries. For years now, they’ve struggled with a bizarre network of rules and aggressive, unpredictable enforcement.* THE BUDGET DE BLASIO BELIEVES IN: Mayor de Blasio proposes $73.9 billion city budget ramping up education, housing and labor contract spending(NYDN) * Brecher: Issues remain in Mayor de Blasio's new budget(NYDN) * Mayor de Blasio tucks $35M into 2015 city budget proposal for East River Esplanade(NYDN)* Ms. Sedlis also tore into Mayor Bill de Blasio in a New York Post column. “The mayor got his press conference, the union chief got his revenge — and the city’s schoolchildren got nothing,” she fumed. “It’s disappointing that a mayor who has spent so much time talking about fighting inequality would agree to a contract that delivers so little for the children he swore to represent.”
Meanwhile, the Daily News editorial board was more critical of the budget today, writing that Mr. de Blasio “doles out $13.5 billion in total raises to municipal employees — and is balanced with a lot of hopes that he’ll be able to pay for them with savings on health care.”* De Blasio Budget Projects Raises for City Workers(WSJ) * The mayor's ability to pay for more programs without cutting services or raising taxes comes in part from an additional $1.2 billion the city took in during the current fiscal year--money that gets rolled into the following budget--and an extra $95 million for FY2015. The bulk of those funds came from a spike in personal income tax revenue, said his budget director, Dean Fuleihan. * THE FINE PRINT -- Page 92: De Blasio is proposing the city’s Department of Social Services “reverse” a Bloomberg policy and accept the federal Able Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWD) waiver, allowing people “who are unable to find work to have access” to receive food stamp benefits. … The mayor advocated for this since he was in the City Council:* de Blasio budget for
City Council 2014, Progressives
City Council Member Items Slush Fund
Press and Controller On the UFT Contract Fuzzy Math
Paging Dr. Stringer(NYP Ed)
Scott Stringer has done the citizens of Gotham a public service by calling out the mayor for the accounting gimmicks he used in his budget. As a result, the city won’t be able to put off some of the current costs of the teachers contract into future years. Let’s hope the city comptroller takes a similar look at the rest of the contract, especially the so-called “health savings” that were so heavily touted in selling the agreement. Because it looks as though Mayor de Blasio has more fuzzy math. Here’s another: The cost of the teachers union’s new contract — announced as about $6 billion — is now estimated to be closer to $9 billion. The mayor’s response? It’s an example of the “moving parts” of any union deal. In the past, New Yorkers have been burned by bureaucratic bait-and-switch: Elected leaders pass a budget front-loaded with spending (or tax increases) and “savings” or “cuts” on the back end. Money gets spent and taxes are raised — but the promised savings somehow fail to materialize.
Nicole Gelinas
Real Cost of the Contract Increase to $9 Billion Not the $5.5 Promised
Mulgrew: Not A Nickel From Teachers for Promised Health Care Savings
Teachers union boss Mike Mulgrew’s glee is another reason for concern. He’s crowing because his members pulled off a contract that did not require them to contribute a nickel for their own health care. You’d be hard-pressed to find any such arrangement elsewhere — and not just in the private sector. At the state level, Gov. Cuomo managed to get concessions that increased New York’s public workers’
A Generation Lession Lost . . .
Ravitch About the City Borrowing $$$ For Its Operating Budget: "We won’t make that mistake again." Or will we?
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A Lost Generation of City Leaders Without Historical Knowledge or Understanding Borrowing Again
SELLING DE BLASIO? -- "NYC's Rising Labor Costs Prod UBS to Sell: Muni Credit," by Bloomberg's Michelle Kaske and Henry Goldman: "New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to pay for labor contracts that boost deficits is causing UBS Global Asset Management Americas Inc. and RidgeWorth Capital Management Inc. to reduce holdings of city debt. ... UBS cut its allocation of New York bonds in some of its national funds to as low as zero from as high as 3 percent, said Ebby Gerry, who helps oversee about $15 billion of state and local debt in New York as head of municipal investments. ... 'We’re concerned with what Mayor de Blasio might do in working with the unions, things like this housing project that he’s looking at with not having a full understanding of how he’s going to pay for it,' Gerry said. 'We’re watching pretty closely.'" http://bloom.bg/1mZ8Jye
Two prominent financial firms, UBS Global Asset Management and RidgeWorth Capital Management Inc., are reportedly paring down their holdings of New York City municipal bonds because they’re worried Mayor Bill de Blasio‘s proposed contract with the teachers’ union could create new deficits. “Our view is, this is the beginning stages of a fiscal policy that could become credit negative,” one UBS official told the News.
Nicole Gelinas
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