Staff Reports
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has some explaining to do after it was revealed that his budget for fiscal 2025 fell short by a whopping $3.6 billion. Yes, you heard that right – billions of dollars! It turns out that his proposed $109.4 billion budget wasn’t as balanced as he made it out to be. Oops!
The Citizens Budget Commission dug deep and uncovered the truth, exposing that Adams lowballed the budget estimates for several fiscal years to the tune of $3.9 billion. Yikes! That’s a pretty big miss. It’s like trying to hit a bullseye and landing in the parking lot instead.
So, what’s the deal with all this extra money? Well, a big chunk of it is going towards city housing vouchers and uniformed overtime, but it seems like the city didn’t quite budget enough for these expenses. The housing vouchers alone are projected to cost $850 million, but the city only set aside a measly $150 million. Talk about a budgeting blunder!
But wait, there’s more! The proposed budget also conveniently forgot to include $200 million for homeless services and $675 million for programs funded by the New York State Education Department. It’s like forgetting to add the chocolate chips to your cookie dough – you’re left with a disappointing result.
The Citizens Budget Commission is calling for more transparency, and they’ve got a point. Ana Champeny, the CBC’s vice president of research, thinks that Mayor Adams should be upfront about what services are actually funded in the budget. After all, transparency is key in any good budgeting process.
Adams, on the other hand, seemed to think his budget was just peachy in January. He claimed it was even better than expected and bragged about trimming migrant housing and feeding costs by less than $2 billion. Well, it looks like he spoke too soon because the migrant crisis is now projected to cost the city $10.6 billion over three years instead of the $12 billion he originally thought. Looks like someone needs to brush up on their math skills!
The mayor’s next budget update is slated for April, and let’s hope he’s sharpened his pencils and double-checked his math this time. The citizens of New York City deserve a balanced and accurate budget, not one that’s riddled with errors and omissions. Let’s hope Mayor Adams can get it together before his next budget unveiling.
