Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. City Hall. 11.21.13 Photo by Maurice Pinzon
By New York News Network
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg handed Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio an early inauguration day present, a balanced budget. According to Mayor Bloomberg, who made the announcement in the Blue Room at City Hall on Thursday, it probably has never been done before.
“For the first time in modern memory, and perhaps for the first time in New York City history, the budget for an incoming fiscal year has been balanced for an incoming mayor,” said Mayor Bloomberg.
He added, “We have done that without proposing any tax increases or cuts in essential services.”
Mayor Bloomberg, attributed what he referred to as “this historic accomplishment” to “New York’s continued economic growth,” and to his administration’s “fiscal discipline and from the significant savings we’ve achieved in recent months.”
When the mayor proposed, and the New York City Council adopted, the Fiscal Year 2014 budget at the end of June 2013 ”“ the city’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30 ”“ the Bloomberg administration, at that time, projected a deficit for the next fiscal year, that is Fiscal Year 2015, in the order of $2 billion.
That budget gap is now projected as closed, according to the mayor. And presumably, that means, Mayor-elect de Blasio will be dealing with one less headache as he seeks to implement his own policies.