Brooklyn Borough Board calls for funding essential services, raising needed revenue, in City’s 2003 budget

    To close the City’s estimated budget deficit of $4.8 billion for 2003, the Preliminary Budget proposal released by Mayor Bloomberg on February 13th cuts spending on City services by $1.6 billion, borrows at least $1.5 billion to meet current expenses, and counts on additional State and federal assistance. Ever since the budget proposal was made public, Borough President Markowitz’s policy staff has focused on the proposed service reductions, analyzing the budget numbers to see how well Brooklyn fares and to identify reductions that cut too deep into core services. They have also been reviewing ways to raise the additional revenue necessary to avoid the most damaging cuts.
    Early last week the fruits of their labor were presented to the Brooklyn Borough Board in the form of a draft Statement of Budget Priorities for Brooklyn. On Wednesday evening, the Borough Board — consisting of the Borough President, Brooklyn’s City Council delegation and Community Board Chairs — met at Borough Hall, discussed the draft at length, and voted unanimously in favor of its adoption. The approved Statement will be presented to the Mayor today, as required by the City Charter.
    As Brooklyn’s collective response to the Mayor’s budget proposal, the Statement of Budget Priorities will serve as a basis for budget negotiations with City Hall.
    On Friday morning, the Borough Board made the Statement of Budget Priorities public at a press conference on the steps of Borough Hall. BP Markowitz explained the major recommendations in the Statement, and Council Members Charles Barron, Bill DeBlasio, Tracy Boyland, Lew Fidler, Mike Nelson, Diana Reyna, Angel Rodriguez, and David Yassky made additional remarks. Chairs and District Managers of many of Brooklyn’s Community Boards also participated in the press conference.

Save essential services
    Among the proposed reductions opposed by the Borough Board are:

• Seniors. Since Brooklyn has more seniors than any other borough, the 16% reduction proposed for the Department for the Aging would disproportionately hurt Brooklyn. And most of the senior centers proposed for closure or new ones that would not open are in Brooklyn. There should be no cuts in funding to existing senior centers and services nor to proposed programs for under-served immigrants. Funding for the weekend meals program also must be maintained.
• Libraries. The Borough Board’s Statement asks for sufficient funding to keep all branches of the Brooklyn Public Library open at least six days a week.
• Youth Services. Summer jobs for our young people are a top priority. The State has reduced its contribution to the Summer Youth Employment Program by 84%. At most, 24,000 youths would get jobs this summer, down from 50,000 last year. The Borough Board calls on the State to fully restore its share.

• Parks. Park maintenance cannot be reduced or deferred. The Borough Board calls for amending the City Charter so that revenue generated by the Department can be dedicated to maintenance and operations. Last year the Department gave the City more than $44 million.

Raise the necessary revenue
    The Borough Board proposes a number of revenue "enhancements" to pay for the restorations. These include:

• Reinstatement of the "commuter tax" for a period of two or three years, which would raise $500 million a year. A "modest" one percentage point income-tax surcharge on incomes of $150,000 and over. The surcharge would also expire in two or three years.
• Re-evaluation of the City’s deal with the New York Stock Exchange for a new trading complex. The proposed $1 billion subsidy is "not prudent at this time," according to the Borough Board’s Statement.
• Reinstatement of the Stock Transfer Incentive Fund, which provides $114 million dollars each year.
• A streamlined City procurement process, implementing recommendations made by the Citizens Budget Commission which would save $135 million.

• An increase in the State’s share of Medicaid payments. New York is the only city in the nation that is required to assume a portion of the cost of Medicaid. Last year, this came to 11.5% of the City’s entire budget.

Next steps in the budget process: The City Council is holding agency budget hearings all this week and next. Hearings typically start with an appearance by the agency commissioner after which the public is given a chance to testify. BP Markowitz is testifying at today’s hearing of the Committee on the Aging. Visit the Council’s web site (www.council.nyc.ny.us) for the complete schedule.

Outstanding Brooklyn women
to be honored at BH March 21st
    In honor of National Women’s History Month, on March 21st at 8:30 AM, Borough President Markowitz and City Council Member Tracy L. Boyland will host the Brooklyn Power Women’s Networking Breakfast at Borough Hall. Boyland chairs the Council’s Women’s Issues Committee.
    Awards will be given to outstanding Brooklyn women in six categories named after some of the most outstanding women in Brooklyn "herstory" including:

• Shirley Chisholm Leadership Award to Ella McNair of Bedford-Stuyvesant, the first African-American woman to hold the rank of Lieutenant in the NYC Fire Department;
• Dr. Susan Smith McKinney Humanitarian Award to Dr. Ruth C. Browne, Executive Director of the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health;
• Lady Deborah Moody Founders Award to Denise Rosario, founder of the Hispanic Committee for Children and Families;
• Emily Roebling Businesswoman’s Award to Dolly Williams of A. Williams, Inc., a builder of public and private structures in Brooklyn;
• Lucille Mason Rose Community Activist Award to Marianne Teta of Bay Ridge, president of Community School Board 20, Secretary of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, and member of numerous other local boards and committees;

• Betty Smith Arts Award to Virginia Louloudes, Executive Director, Alliance of Resident Theaters/New York.

Erik Paulino new head of Borough Hall Constituent Services
    Borough President Markowitz has appointed Erik Paulino as his Director of Constituent Services. He will be responsible for the Borough President’s Action Center, which helps Brooklynites resolve problems with government agencies and private companies, and for the Community Boards unit and its community liaisons.
    Of Dominican and Peruvian ancestry, Paulino was raised in Brooklyn, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and obtained a Masters Degree in Public Administration from the University of Texas. For the past four years he served as Asst. Vice-President for Member Services and Public Policy for the Hispanic Federation. Of his new Director of Constituent Services, BP Markowitz said, "In Erik Paulino, Brooklyn is getting the best advocate there is."

BP Markowitz tells reapportionment panel: proposed Senate districts harm Brooklyn
    Hundreds of Brooklynites packed into Borough Hall on Friday to attend a public hearing of the Legislative Task Force on Demographics and Reapportionment. Most were drawn to the hearing by their opposition to plans the Task Force released last month to redraw State Senate districts.
    In his testimony, Borough President Markowitz focused on three districts where the proposed new district lines violate the basic principle that districts should be drawn as compactly as possible. All three of the proposed districts would each contain at least two non-contiguous communities, separated from each other — in some districts for miles — solely by highways, water, or very narrow population corridors only one-block wide. BP Markowitz said that such fragmented districts are harder for Senators to represent and that residents of these proposed districts would find it more difficult to organize around common issues. He urged the Task Force to draw new Senate lines that do not shortchange Brooklyn.