| Bloomberg/Quinn Tax Deal Spells Trouble for Human Services |
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| Tuesday, 02 June 2009 15:23 |
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Yesterday’s agreement by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn on a series of tax proposals for next year’s NYC budget, which begins on July 1st, spells bad news for providers and consumers of human services. The deal’s failure to seek additional revenues, either through increases in personal income tax rates for high wage earners or other alternative tax actions, appears to set the stage for adoption of a final budget likely to contain massive cuts to human service programs. Advocates – including the One New York: Fighting for Fairness Coalition -- had offered a range of alternative revenue raising proposals which they had hoped would be considered as offsets to proposed service cuts. “The Mayor is going to get away with just dramatic budget cuts,” said James Parrott, Chief Economist at the Fiscal Policy Institute. “This is not very good news.” Mayor Bloomberg’s Executive Budget proposal currently under consideration by the Council includes almost $200 million in total budget reductions to key health and human service programs, including more than $113 million in cuts to his own, “baselined” programs. Another $78 million represents funding for programs added to FY2009 by the City Council during budget negotiations last year but dropped by the Mayor for FY2010. Many advocates argue that "off budget" cuts including efforts to close a $62 million structural deficit in the Administration for Children's Services and shortfalls at the Department for the Aging make matters even worse. (For more on the Mayor’s budget proposal, see “Hard Choices! Bad Choices?” in the June edition of NYNP.) The deal includes an increase of 0.5% in the City Sales Tax, a repeal of the Clothing Tax Exemption for clothing items priced over $110, and a variety of other tax adjustments spelled out in a “tax conformity package”, which includes loophole closers, that will bring City tax policy more in line with State policy.Advocates did praise the agreement to avoid restoration of sales taxes on purchases of clothing items priced less than $110 – seemingly the most regressive of the Mayor’s tax proposals. "Keeping the tax exemption on clothing and footwear for purchases under $110 dollars will make sure that families aren't taxed on necessities," said Speaker Christine C. Quinn. Without additional revenues coming from alternative tax sources, however, the Council will hard pressed to fight for both restoration of the Mayor’s proposed programmatic cuts and funding for their own historic initiatives. "We have continually called upon our city's leaders to look at revenue options instead of just service cuts and we continue to believe that has to be the answer," said Nancy Wackstein, Executive Director of United Neighborhood Houses and Chair of the Human Services Council of NYC. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites           |
COMMENTS
There is no funding for the Oral Health Program in next years budget. Children that have depended on this valuable program for decades will suffer from the loss of services provided by this program that will not be replaced. In spite of support from Betsy Gotbaum, various city council members. the American Dental Association, and the New York State Dental Association, the program has been permanently terminated. Shame on Mayor Bloomberg, the City Council and Health Department officials. Its a dark day for children's oral health.