By Tien-Shun Lee
Councilman Jim Gennaro (D-Fresh Meadows), Councilwoman Melinda Katz (D-Forest Hills) and representatives of various non-profit city groups spoke March 12 at a forum in JHS 190 about the budget process and ways the city could obtain revenues without cutting services.
“I've been through 20 budget cycles and this is a very political process,” said Gennaro at the meeting, which was sponsored by the Forest Hills Community House. “You need to bring the bodies to City Hall to show them these are the seniors in need; these are the students in need. You need to put a human face on all the budget needs of the city.”
Katz thanked JHS 190 students for showing up at the meeting to show their support for the FHCH Beacon program, a city-funded after-school program slated to have $60,000 of its budget cut next year.
FHCH Beacon is one of 80 after-school Beacon programs citywide. It organizes classes and activities for community members of all ages ranging from hip-hop to basketball games to cooking.
“This year is a very tough year. The pinch of the $3.5 billion budget deficit is going to be felt by everyone in the city,” Katz said. “The more the students are involved in lobbying, the better chance each [after-school] program has.”
Gennaro encouraged people to take part in postcard campaigns to advocate for their interests.
“There's something about the hard copy of stacks of postcards with rubber bands around them that makes a difference,” he said.
Bonnie Brower, the director of the Budget for a Livable New York City Coalition, a group that researches alternative ways to raise city revenues, talked about ways to restructure the tax system to generate money.
According to Brower's group, restructuring city business taxes and closing corporate tax loopholes could potentially generate $1.19 billion, enacting a commuter tax at 1 percent of commuters' income could produce $950 million, and adding a tax bracket for incomes of $250,000 and above could yield $595 million.
“We need to improve the fairness of the tax structure,” Brower said. “We're putting the burden on the poor and working instead of on the wealthy.”
Corey Bearak, a representative of the Queens Civic Congress, another group that researches alternative ways to generate revenue, said that enacting a property tax for people who rent out one-, two- and three-family homes for commercial use could generate $1 billion.
Gennaro said Mayor Michael Bloomberg needed to fight harder to get a fair share of money for the city from the federal and state governments.
“It's his obligation as chief executive of this city to make the most forceful case for this city,” Gennaro said. “He needs to fight like anything to bring fiscal equity from Albany and Washington.”
Reach reporter Tien-Shun Lee by email at Timesledger@aol.com, or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 155.
