With severe cuts to fire companies, child care and libraries looming, an on-time, balanced city budget was agreed upon with all services restored, the mayor announced.
“We produced an on-time, balanced budget that does not raise taxes and preserves central services we all rely on,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg at the press conference announcing the budget on Monday, June 25.
An agreement between the city council and mayor on the budget came well ahead of the June 30 deadline.
Council speaker Christine Quinn said the approximately $68.5 billion budget was “a statement of priorities.”
Twenty fire companies and more than 40,000 day care and after-school spots faced elimination in the preliminary budget. More than $26 million was scheduled to be cut from the library’s budget which would have forced 18 libraries in Queens to shut their doors.
Bloomberg said he was sure the final budget would have all the cuts restored.
“We’ve done it every year,” he said.
While the cuts were restored this time, it may be harder in next year’s budget, the mayor said. The 2014 fiscal year faces a $2.5 billion budget gap.
