NEW YORK — A record budget agreement of $101 billion was approved by the New York City Council in a vote held late into the night.
After reaching an agreement with Mayor Eric Adams the previous week, the final approval was granted about 11 p.m. on Monday evening.
According to a report by John Dias of CBS2, the budget for 2023 is the largest in the history of the city. It increased by more than $2 billion as a result of the mayor’s claims that the city collected a greater amount of taxes than were required and that it was putting those extra cash away for an emergency.
The Council ultimately voted 44 to 6, concluding a lengthy discussion that lasted many hours, to approve the budget proposal. This budget is a down payment on New York City’s resurrection – not the way it was, but the way it should be, according to the chair of the financial committee, who made these comments in a statement.
It includes increasing the earned income tax credit in New York City by $250 million, which will put more money in the pockets of working families. It also includes increasing the city reserve to $8.3 billion, which is the highest level in the city’s history. Additionally, it includes adding $3 billion to the labour reserve in preparation for negotiating labour agreements, as well as adding funds for public safety resources.
In the fine print, it also says that the summer workforce programme will be expanded, that funds will be increased for more garbage basket pickup, and that additional monies will be added for extra beds in homeless shelters.
“There is nothing more dysfunctional than paying for something that requires you to readjust based on the amount of pupils you have,” said Adams. “Nothing is more dysfunctional than paying for something that when you decrease the numbers, you have to pay for.”
Even with this reduction, the mayor is adamant that every student would receive the full amount of funds for which they are eligible.
The deadline for the budget is July 1st. Additionally, the mayor gave his approval to increase the budget for the NYPD by $90 million.
“Single patrol, which is what I was responsible for when I worked as a transit police, is going to be reinstated, and as a result, we will be able to see twice as much coverage. I’m going to put the money that the people of New York have given me to good use, and I’m going to do it with their police department “Adams stated.
This year, the Department of Education will suffer more losses of $600 million. According to the mayor, it is due of a decrease in student enrollment and a stall in aid from the federal government related to the pandemic.
