NYC Budget - The Game

Try your hand at figuring out how well you could manage New York City's finances by playing Gotham Gazette's Budget Game. Newsday looks at the game:

The game is simple. Each player begins with a $3.8 billion deficit in the city's 2004 fiscal year budget. To balance it, players must weigh spending decisions, such as whether to raise and lower taxes or seek aid from the state and federal governments. But there is one small catch: reality. Each choice has a consequence. Cut the education budget too much and a warning appears that class size will increase, contributing to lower test scores and outrage from the dreaded angry voters.

Council Finance Committee Chair David Weprin says, "The game is terrific...it gives the public an opportunity to stand in the shoes of the Council…and make tough decisions by combing spending, taxing and borrowing."

Take a look at the Mayor's actual budget, the one that's getting him in trouble.