The New York Times-20080129-Spitzer Reneged on Aid To City- Bloomberg Says

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Spitzer Reneged on Aid To City, Bloomberg Says

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Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said on Monday that the Spitzer administration was shortchanging New York City by about $500 million, and he urged lawmakers to restore the money, especially in education and health care.

During pointed testimony at a joint legislative budget hearing, the mayor said the school aid that Gov. Eliot Spitzer proposed to give the city in the next fiscal year was significantly less than had been promised. Mr. Bloomberg said the reductions could force the city to further squeeze taxpayers and deepen cuts in programs.

A deal is a deal, the mayor said.

This year, as we do every year, we've made budget decisions in the city based on the expectation, and even the expressed assurances, that Albany will honor its commitments to us, he added.

Mr. Bloomberg praised the governor personally but spent much of his testimony criticizing Mr. Spitzer's $124 billion proposed budget.

Although the overall amount of state subsidies to the city would increase, the mayor said the city expected more, not only for education but also in the unrestricted aid that the state provides. Mr. Bloomberg said the governor was backing off an agreement reached in budget negotiations last spring to fully restore $330 million in unrestricted aid.

Now it's a year later and we find that instead of this promised full share, we're budgeted to receive only half of what were due. he said. Well, New York City doesn't need another I.O.U.

The mayor appeared to take a jab at the governor's recent call for a bailout of the lagging upstate economy, saying, We see no need to pit downstate against upstate, or to shortchange one area of New York while subsidizing others.

In comments after his testimony, Mr. Bloomberg also criticized one of the signature ideas presented in the governor's budget: Mr. Spitzer's plan to explore imposing a ceiling on increases in local property taxes. Outside the city, property taxes are the principal means of financing education. The mayor said a property tax cap takes away democracy and would shift more of the burden of rising education costs statewide to the taxpayers of New York City, who are already responsible for half of the state's revenue but make up only 40 percent of the population.

He did praise several of the governor's proposals, including a restructuring of the way that Medicaid reimburses hospitals for various types of care, and a planned expansion of the state's Child Health Plus, a publicly financed insurance program.

Mr. Bloomberg called the governor an honest guy trying to do his best with limited resources.

These aren't personal things, the mayor said. The governor, I've known for a long time. He's trying to do the right thing. I think he would say the same thing about the mayor.

Mr. Bloomberg's message was mainly one of frustration. He said that under the budget that the governor proposed last week, the city would be expected to absorb millions of dollars in new special education costs for 29,000 kindergartners. And while most local governments would have their financial responsibility on special education capped, New York City would not, which would result in $10 million a year in additional costs, he said.

The mayor's testimony began several weeks of legislative hearings on the governor's budget proposal.

The Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, a Republican who has been the mayor's most important ally in the Legislature, said on Monday, I didn't hear what he testified about, but naturally he's not happy because they cut revenue sharing to the city, and I think that probably impacts him several hundred million dollars.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Manhattan Democrat who has long had a contentious relationship with the mayor, called Mr. Bloomberg's testimony divisive and noted that the city would receive an increase in school aid under the Spitzer budget.

We are one state and we are one city, Mr. Silver said. That's it. You don't divide it up that 'More comes from here, more comes from there.'

In a statement released by the governor's office after Mr. Bloomberg's testimony, Mr. Spitzer said that the economic storm clouds that hang over our nation and this state call for hard choices and shared sacrifice.

He also said that in his proposed budget, New York City would receive a net increase of $1.2 billion over last year in school aid, property tax relief and Medicaid savings.

[Illustration]PHOTO: Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg greeting legislators on Monday. (PHOTOGRAPH BY NATHANIEL BROOKS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)