I met
with the Mayor earlier today for a budget briefing. Given our city’s decreased
revenues and the uncertainty regarding funds from the state, service cuts and tax increases are,
unfortunately, unavoidable.
While it appears that the
majority of cuts will not have a major impact on vulnerable New Yorkers, I am
concerned about the elimination of child dental clinics. In terms of the
dental clinics, I urge the city to establish a transition plan to
help inform the families of the 17,000 kids who use these clinics where
they can now go to get dental services.
One of my main concerns going into today’s meeting was
how the proposed cuts would affect education. The mayor assured
me that the budget cuts to education will not directly impact the classroom,
and instead will be made mostly to the Department of Education's
central administration. As I have long stated, DOE central can afford
to trim some fat. For instance, there are still nine open positions listed on the DOE website under
their accountability initiative, some paying up to $170,000.
Finally, as a trustee of
NYCERS, I understand the significant cost of the pension system to this city
and the effects on the system of a downturn in the economy. Which is
why I believe we should institute a fifth tier for pension
contributions. A fifth tier will require that new employees coming
into the system give a greater contribution to their pensions. It
might not help us today, but down the road it will make a
difference.
Hopefully, the mayor's
current conservative projections won't hold, and the economy
will rebound. There is cause to be optimistic: yesterday we made history
by electing Barack Obama. I believe this will restore confidence in the markets
and in the country.
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