By Alex Davidson
More than a hundred Queens groups converted on the Museum of the Moving Image Monday to protest further funding cuts hours after the City Council voted to approve sales and income tax hikes as part of the city’s effort to close a $3.8 billion budget deficit.
City and state lawmakers have agreed on tax hikes and other measures for fiscal year 2004 that would bring $2.7 billion in relief to the cash-strapped city and avert Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s “doomsday” contingency plan.
“We have no guards to fire, no exhibits to close,” said Maryanne Mrozinski of the King Manor Museum in Jamaica. She told the hearing sponsored by the City Council’s Queens delegation the museum is already operating on a bare-bones budget and cannot afford any more cuts to narrow the budget gap.
A spokesman for the Queens Historical Society, which did not receive money for fiscal year 2003, said it is also operating on a tight budget and could face a more dire situation this year. Geraldine Spinella of the Bayside Historical Society said her group could lose its ability to manage and maintain the Fort Totten site if it is forced to swallow more cuts.
Bloomberg had proposed a doomsday budget in the event no money came down from the state that would have saved the city $3.8 billion but severely disintegrated services and grants to cultural, social and artistic groups.
Queens residents were saved from the cuts because of a plan crafted by state legislators.
The budget approved by the state Legislature calls for an increase in the combined state-city sales tax, from 8.25 percent to 8.625 percent, and a temporary hike in the state-city income tax rates from 3.65 percent to 4.25 percent among individuals earning $100,000 and couples earning a combined $150,000 in the city.
Gov. George Pataki is keeping his options open to veto any plans that raise taxes, he said, while fellow Republican Bloomberg is supporting the tax hikes. The governor has until May 14 to decide whether he will approve or veto the budget for the year that begins in July.
The City Council voted 46-3 Monday to approve the sales and income tax hikes. The Council’s plan, the details of which differ a bit from the state’s, also call for 900 new taxi medallions to be sold, bringing in an extra $65 million for the next three years.
The city and state budget proposals would also impose a new tax on private houses that owners rent out for income without living there and make the state responsible for $500-$530 million a year in debt service owed by the city from the 1970’s.
The city is currently facing a $3.8 billion budget gap, while the state is trying to deal with an $11 billion deficit. A final compromise deal on the budget between the city and state is expected within the next few weeks.
Both the proposed city and state budgets will now allow the mayor to avoid laying off Police Department officers. He will also be able to keep open 31 public swimming pools, 21 recreational facilities an
Several groups, including community boards, cultural groups and social service organizations, pleaded with the delegation at the Monday night meeting to ensure funding is not significantly slashed in any final budget deals. Most groups said they were content to take some cuts in light of the city and state budget deficits, but they stressed any reductions beyond certain levels would endanger their survival.
Pataki has been at odds with Bloomberg, state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Brunswick) on their plans for raising taxes. He has said he instead favors decreasing spending and has proposed large cuts to the state’s education and health budgets.
State lawmakers were quick to point out that their plan also restores more than $410 million in cuts targeted at education.
Pataki now has the option of vetoing the entire plan or picking out points that he likes and others he dislikes. The items he strikes down then go back to the legislature, which can override the governor with a two-thirds majority approval vote in both houses.
Reach reporter Alex Davidson by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156
