Politics & Government
Sandy Takes Big Bite Out of 2014 City Budget
Budget includes $250 million for Hurricane Sandy repairs.
This article was written by Matthew Hampton.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg was joined by a phalanx of City Council members on Sunday to announce an agreement on the Fiscal Year 2014 city budget.
The on-time budget addresses a number of city issues, including a lack of funding for some agencies as a result of federal cuts, and Hurricane Sandy relief, repair and emergency funding.
"As cities and states across the nation experienced large-scale layoffs and severe service cutbacks, our own fiscal discipline and pro-growth economic strategies prevented that from happening here and helped pull New York through those difficult times — most recently, coming out of the recession faster than any other place in the nation," Bloomberg said in a statement.
Some of the budget's highlights include:
- $250 million for infrastructure improvements outlined in Bloomberg's recently announced climate change resiliency plan.
- $58 million for NYCHA, which, like many city agencies is facing increased expenses as a result of Hurricane Sandy.
- Debt service payments to help close future budget gaps.
The budget pushes a $2 billion gap into Fiscal Year 2015, which will be a problem for New York City's next mayor to deal with, naturally.
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