New York Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday proposed a $78.3 billion budget for fiscal 2016 - up $600 million from his preliminary budget three months ago -- balancing themes of income equality and fiscal health.
"We think these ideas have to be meshed to create a strong and stable city for the future," de Blasio said in a late-afternoon City Hall speech.
The 51-member City Council must approve the spending plan by June 30.
De Blasio also budgeted $83.8 billion - up 24% -- for his 10-year capital strategy, including the creation of a $500 million capital stabilization reserve fund. "It's a huge jump forward for this city," he said.
De Blasio, in his second year at City Hall, said New York would continue to settle labor contracts -- 76% of the workforce is under contract, all of which were working on expired contracts when he succeeded Michael Bloomberg in January 2014.
The mayor warned about budgetary stresses beyond New York's control, referencing the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Sandy, both of which forced large tax increases and service cuts; he also cited cuts in state and federal aid, a low rate of growth in the gross domestic product during the post-recession recovery, and slow job growth.
"We're at a crossroads moment," he said. "We're facing uncertain times for a number of reasons. We have to prepare locally for what goes on beyond our borders and we cannot expect people to come and save us."
De Blasio's plan puts $1 billion annually into the general reserve fund through 2019 --which he called "the first line of defense against a downturn" -- and increases reserves in the retiree health benefits trust fund to $2.6 billion.
The capital reserve fund, said de Blasio, would enable the city to keep current with its debt service and better analyze the feasibility of capital projects. Moody's Investors Service rates the city's roughly $40 billion of general obligation debt Aa2. Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's rate it AA.
De Blasio said debt would remain within 15% of tax revenue, a popular yardstick with bond rating agencies. "We've been very consistent the past few years," he said.
His budget includes $54 million for mental health services, expanding to $78 million in fiscal 2017, and $33 million a year to eliminate the annual payment in lieu of taxes by the New York City Housing Authority as part of an overhaul of the agency that he will announce within days.
Earlier in the week, de Blasio said the city would pump an additional $29 million into the City University of New York system for science, technology, engineering and math programs. That amount would increase to $51 million the following year.
The capital plan includes an increase in the city's contribution to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's five-year capital plan to $657 million, which administration officials acknowledged days earlier. This, he said, complements other city investments in the MTA.
MTA Chairman Thomas Prendergast on Monday requested $2.5 billion over five years, including $1 billion to help finish construction of the Second Avenue subway. De Blasio said he generally supports the MTA's efforts to fully fund its proposed $32 billion capital plan, which has a $15 billion hole and still needs the approval of a state capital program review board.
"I did not get a thank-you note [from Prendergast], but I'm OK with that," said de Blasio.
Other capital initiatives in the city plan include $12.6 billion to build out transportation infrastructure, including $7.8 billion to restore and rehabilitate bridges; $14.7 billion for the Department of Environmental Protection's water and sewer system; $902 million for public libraries; $13.5 billion for the Department of Education's five-year capital plan; and $1.8 billion for de Blasio's green buildings plan.
