Angry New Yorker

Semi-Daily Rants from New York City's Angry Man

"As I know more of mankind I expect less of them, and am ready now to call a man a good man, upon easier terms than I was formerly." - Dr. Samuel Johnson, Boswell, Life of Johnson, Sept. 1783

Archives


Links
Thursday, June 03, 2004
 
Is this a surprise? Not really.
From Gotham Gazette - www.gothamgazette.com

"The New York State Financial Control Board reviewed Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposed $46.9 billion budget and found the "city's finances remain structurally unbalanced." Despite an improving economy and an expected surplus in this year's financial plan, the state board warned of serious problems ahead that can only be solved through permanent spending cuts or increases in taxes. Spending for Medicaid, employee pensions, and union contracts are expected to dramatically increase in the future. The city is also relying too heavily on temporary increases to the personal income and sales taxes that will expire over the next two years, the board said."

None of the above will come as a surprise to any AngryNYker.com readers. The real question is, will anything be done before reality painfully forces change? The NYS Financial Control Board's June 2 report, Review of FY 2004, is available here - http://www.fcb.state.ny.us/pdf/NYC_Review_of_FY_2004.pdf. The report is actually fairly damning, with such choice passages as:
"there has been no real improvement in the city's fiscal situation since FY 2003 despite relying on $1 billion in temporary tax increases and experiencing very strong growth in the continuing tax base because of the upturn in the economy. A major reason for this lack of improvement is that last year the city relied on some $3 billion intemporary resources, including $1.5 billion from borrowed funds to pay for operating expenses.
* * *
[A] cursory examination of the FY 2005 Executive Budget, released on April 26th, shows a deterioration in the city's fiscal condition that was temporarily masked in FY 2004."

The report only came out yesterday, but I'd expect this to be front page news in all the NY papers. It isn't. The question is why?

posted by anonymous at 8:59 AM

Comments: Post a Comment
HOME
This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?