Bloomberg shares coming budget pain

Drastically reduced library hours, shuttered fire houses, 6,400 less teachers and 50 fewer senior centers are only some of the things city residents could soon be seeing.
These items were included in Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s $62.9 billion fiscal year (FY) 2011 budget released on Thursday, May 6, where the mayor criticized the state government for not passing its budget (it was supposed to be done by April 1), thus further hampering the city’s efforts to forecast its actual budget gap.
“The Governor’s proposed a budget that in effect balances the state’s books by starving New York City, and we are still facing that very grim outlook,” Bloomberg said. “We’ve kept our own fiscal house in order, preparing responsibly for the downturn with eight different belt-tightenings over the last three years, while spending in Albany has continued to spiral out of control. Now we are paying the price for Albany’s irresponsibility.”
Bloomberg’s budget proposal outlines $1.3 billion in gap closings across city agencies – up nearly $200 million from the January preliminary budget – and the city believes $800 million of the $1.3 billion in reductions are necessitated by less funding from the state. Some of the reductions will include slashing subsidies to libraries by $31 million, eliminating nurse coverage for elementary schools with less than 300 students saving $3.1 million and closing four pools and shortening the summer pool season by two weeks.
The funding cuts would have a devastating impact on the Queens Library, which would lose roughly $17 million in funding in the proposed FY 2011 budget. That reduction would force 412 layoffs early in the fiscal year, close 14 libraries entirely and have 34 libraries closed four or five days a week.
In total, the gap closings for this fiscal year would reduce the number of city employees by 10,997 – 6,026 through layoffs and 4,971 through attrition.
One agency that will be spared of the cuts is the New York Police Department (NYPD). The proposed budget will save approximately 900 police jobs, and many believe that the recent thwarted bomb plot in Times Square was the impetus behind the decision.
Meanwhile State Budget Director Robert Megna said that Bloomberg was using the state as a scapegoat for the city’s budget problems and he questioned “whether many of New York City’s proposed cuts will ultimately be necessary – especially given the fact that the city expects to end the current fiscal year with a $3 billion surplus.”
The City Council will begin holding budget hearings and then start negotiating the budget with the Mayor.