By Alexander Dworkowitz
City Council Speaker Gifford Miller (D-Manhattan) came to Flushing Library last Thursday to discuss the Council’s budget plan with representatives of Queens media.
Miller, one of the most powerful politicians in the city, focused on the need to raise more funds in order to help deal with the city’s budget gap.
The gap is so large that its exact size, which depends on projected figures, is a matter of debate. The mayor and Council have estimated the gap at about $4.75 billion, but city Comptroller William Thompson, Jr. maintains the gap is closer to $6 billion.
To put the $4.75 billion figure in perspective, Miller projected a scenario in which the police force was dramatically cut, all libraries and senior centers were closed, and funding to after-school programs also stopped.
“We would still have to cut a billion out of schools in order to solve that gap,” he said. “But it’s totally unacceptable to New Yorkers … because the city would fall apart.”
In order to finance part of this gap, the Council has proposed a $400 million personal tax surcharge. The progressive tax would cost about $5 a year for people making less than $30,000, and 80 percent of New Yorkers would pay no more than $50, said Miller.
In particular, the Council’s tax surcharge is designed to help construct schools to relieve overcrowding.
“In doing that, we would built a seat for every child,” said Miller.
The meeting was held the same day that the state legislature voted to approve the state budget. The budget appropriates an additional $163 million in school aid for New York City, short of the $200 million that city leaders sought.
The City Council’s plan appropriates money for the city Department of Design and Construction and not the School Construction Authority, which critics say spends too much to construct schools.
“We do not need any more studies to tell us that the SCA is an ineffectual entity,” said City Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz (D-Manhattan), who accompanied Miller.
“I think as a matter of general principle, accountability is better. And we have a system that avoids accountability.”
Nevertheless, Miller said giving the mayor control of the school was not as important as many other issues, such as not cutting the education budget.
“If I were to rank the problems that face the school system, school governance would rank fifth or sixth,” he said.
Miller would not take a stand on the contract negotiations between the mayor and the United Federation and Teachers, which has not had a contract for 18 months.
“It’s the mayor’s job to negotiate,” he said.
Miller said the fiscal crisis was heightened by federal government funding to help the city recover from Sept. 11. Some of the federal government tax cuts, designed to encourage businesses to stay in Lower Manhattan, were linked to city taxes, which were also cut and led to a loss of about $350 million for the city, Miller said.
The speaker cautioned that this year’s budget negotiations were only the beginning of the fiscal crisis.
“The problem is of such scope that were not going to solve anything this year,” said Miller. “We can only hope to make progress.”
Reach reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 141.
