By Bill Parry
City Comptroller Scott Stringer has discovered a fortune. After analyzing the city’s adopted budget of $78.5 billion for fiscal year 2016, Stringer projected that the city benefited from $5.9 billion in additional resources since June of last year, including higher-than-projected tax revenues, savings and prior-year funds rolled over.
“The city’s tax revenues came in well above projections yet again, but robust revenue growth doesn’t last forever,” Stringer said. “If we want to stay nimble in case of a downturn, the city must continue to find efficiencies and recurring savings.”
The comptroller also identified risks to the financial plan, such as understated uniformed overtime costs and lower than budgeted federal Medicaid reimbursement for special education services.
Speculation began on social media from straphangers suggesting that the city use the surplus to close the MTA’s multibillion-dollar funding gap and improve its transit infrastructure and service. MTA Chairman Thomas Prendergast sent a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio recently requesting $3.2 billion.
A spokeswoman for the comptroller’s office said it is not a surplus but rather additional resources. And the comptroller made it clear where the $5.9 billion in additional resources will go.
“The mayor took a responsible step by adding to the city’s reserves, but there is more work to be done,” Stringer said. “Providing for current city costs while building back an adequate cushion to be prepared for the future is a challenge that doesn’t go away. To capitalize on these good times, we must prepare for the day that the revenue rug gets pulled out from under us.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparr
