Last night, Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced that the new $59 billion budget (for the 2009 fiscal year, which starts on July 1) will keep the $400 property tax rebate program for homeowners for a fifth year and increases funding to the Department of Education by $129 million. Still, other sacrifices were made as Bloomberg said, "The news about the economy, and its effects on the City's finances, continues to......

Since the heat is on the City Council's budget practices, specifically its use of slush funds and creating fake groups to collect money, Mayor Bloomberg released details about his own, uh, slush fund. Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler issued a memo noting reforms plus details of the Mayor's discretionary funds. Per the Daily Politics, it explained how "the mayor himself controls a pot of cash...for which Council members and borough presidents can apply during budget negotiations......

With the City Council's budget practices coming under fire as the slush fund scandal continues to simmer, Speaker Christine Quinn introduced new, tougher rules to reign in discretionary funds. Any community groups or organizations who want more than $25,000 in Council funds must get "pre-clearance" to make sure it's a legitimate group--versus one fronted by Council staffers--and making sure all the details (which member sponsors the group, the tac ID, etc). Even though these are......

It's a refrain that already sounds familiar and will no doubt be repeated many times more: Officials expect real estate revenues to fall, causing lots of number crunching in budgets. The NY Sun reports that the city forecasts "a 39% decline in sales volume for all commercial transactions through 2009, and the median price of those transactions is expected to decline by 32%." Since the city charges 2.6% tax of the sale price, while the......

Though there's a "tentative deal" for President Bush's proposed economic stimulus plan in D.C., Mayor Bloomberg thinks it's a bad idea. During a speech last night (accepting an award from the U.S. Conference of Mayors), he outlined why the package was a problem. From the NY Sun:The $145 billion proposal being negotiated centers around the idea of providing several hundred dollars in tax rebates to individuals and families in a bid to spur the economy......