By Paul Liotta | pliotta@siadvance.com
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Mayor Eric Adams and City Council officials gathered in the City Hall rotunda Friday to announce the $101 billion budget.
Top line items in the budget include increases to public safety funding, and property tax relief that should equate to about a $150 rebate for homeowners.
“At this critical moment for our city, this budget delivers early on the issues that matter most and makes the investments that will improve the lives of millions of our fellow New Yorkers,” Adams said.
“With upstream investments to promote public safety, give young people real opportunities, provide relief for working families, improve our public spaces, boost affordable housing, combat food insecurity, and so much more, this budget promotes an equitable recovery for New Yorkers throughout the five boroughs.”
Other items in the budget included $750 million to the Rainy-Day Fund, $750 million to the city’s Retiree Health Benefits Trust, and $500 million to the city’s general reserve, according to a media release from Adams’ office.
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (D-Queens) applauded her colleagues in the body that she leads, and touted a new program that will allocate $100,000 to each of the Council’s 51 members for public safety improvements and victims services.
“We are facing challenging times and from a budget perspective, we are facing rough waters due to the loss of federal stimulus funding and the impacts of this (COVID-19) pandemic,” Speaker Adams said. “This budget is an important moment for our city and yet, we know there is still much work ahead for all of us.”
Speaker Adams also touted a new property tax rebate, which had been a goal for City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli (R-South Shore), City Councilwoman Kamillah Hanks (D-North Shore), and City Councilman David Carr (R-Mid-Island). It will be combined with an existing state rebate.
A property tax rebate hasn’t been in place since 2008 when about 600,000 property owners of one- to three-family homes, co-ops, and condos took advantage of the opportunity.
Borelli and Speaker Adams touted the budget as an example of bipartisan compromise. Borelli said the addition to public safety funding included a full restoration to NYPD funds from before 2020.
“With police funding restored and a small refund to taxpayers, it’s clear Republicans and moderate Democrats had more influence than before in this year’s budget,” Borelli said. “We also restored many of the proposed thoughts to parks maintenance and sanitation cleaning services.”
As chair of the Council’s Committee on Public Safety, Hanks applauded the inclusion of discretionary funds for public safety.
“This budget provides a clear path toward prioritizing our City’s safety, economic recovery, and a true investment in all New Yorkers, including investments in our young people, our communities, and key City programs,” she said.
“I would also like to thank Speaker Adrienne Adams for including a new Public Safety Initiative, which allocates an additional $100,000 to each Council district, something that I advocated for as Chair of the Committee on Public Safety.”
Carr echoed his local colleagues, and also touted the continuation of city’s e-waste pickup initiative spearheaded by his predecessor, former Council Minority Leader Steve Matteo.
“I never agree with the whole budget pie, but I have to fight to make sure Staten Island’s priorities are reflected in the budget,” Carr said.
“I’m glad to have been part of successful team effort of our borough delegation led by Minority Leader Borelli to add to the state’s property tax rebate; save curbside electronic e-waste pickup for Staten Island; restore the NYPD budget to the pre pandemic level; significantly bolster the Sanitation budget so we can add more litter basket pickups and create ‘precision’ clean teams to target illegal dumping; and increase reserves for the tougher economic times ahead.”