Island enriched by budget
The City Council passes spending plan and brings home added funding
Friday, June 30, 2006
By HEIDI J. SHRAGER
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE
Early today, the city's $52.9 billion budget for the fiscal year that
begins tomorrow was etched in stone, with a unanimous vote by the City
Council.
The official adoption, past midnight, came two days after City
Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Mayor Michael Bloomberg sealed the
deal with a good-faith kiss and hug on the City Hall steps.
With endgame negotiations pushing late into the night, a final
document emerged that included all the gritty details and a seemingly
endless list of local initiatives the 51 Council members successfully
pushed through and can deliver to their home districts.
Those and other new Council initiatives, along with restored funding
for citywide programs, are largely why the budget grew by $233 million
since Bloomberg presented his proposal in May.
The Staten Island delegation sounded pleased with the results.
"The money is a little bit better for local groups on Staten Island
this year," said Councilman Michael McMahon (D-North Shore), who sits on
the Finance Committee.
He quickly added that, due to the city's momentary firm financial
footing and a $3.5 billion surplus for fiscal year 2006, "it doesn't
mean that we are spending imprudently. A lot of groups had really high
expectations. They're all doing a little bit better, but at the same
time we have to be careful to plan for the future."
Bloomberg's budget office projects a deficit of $3.6 billion for
fiscal 2008.
Each City Council member is guaranteed a minimum of $280,000 in
discretionary spending to channel to community organizations, plus money
for home-district capital projects.
But they typically plead their case to the speaker to exceed that
limit, jostling over a finite pot of money.
With Ms. Quinn at the helm this year, the Council's internal
negotiating has been spared the strife that plagued talks last year
under former Speaker Gifford Miller.
Still, one source said Miller, then a mayoral candidate, had promised
too much to too many members, particularly for capital projects, and
that Ms. Quinn must now pull back on those long-term promises.
McMahon successfully fought for $200,000 for the Staten Island Zoo;
$100,000 for Snug Harbor, and $75,000 for the Staten Island Children's
Museum, among other operating funds. In capital money, he secured $1.75
million for the Zoo's reptile wing; $2.1 million for a Snug Harbor
security system, and $1.2 million for the Early Child Learning Center at
the Children's Museum, among other projects.
Capital projects for which Councilman James Oddo
(R-Mid-Island/Brooklyn) garnered funds are a new kitchen and bathroom
for Ladder Co. 81/Engine Co. 161 ($500,000); school improvements (over
$2 million), and a new phone system at the Staten Island Historical
Society ($100,000). He won $100,000 in operating funds for
transportation at the American Cancer Society; $65,000 for school
technology programs, and $21,000 for bus service to and from the
Arrochar Senior Center.
Councilman Andrew Lanza (R-South Shore) secured $4 million for
improvements in school labs; $4 million for various park projects, and
$600,000 to build a Native American Center at Conference House Park. In
the realm of operating funds, he secured $13,000 for the budding
military-equipment non-profit Project Homefront; $10,000 for St.
Vincent's Hospice, and $10,000 for the Dr. Theodore Atlas Foundation.
Thanks to other Council members, the Landmarks Preservation
Commission will get an additional $750,000 to actively survey potential
landmarks before they face demolition, to target a situation
increasingly common on Staten Island.
And to combat a problem that afflicts the borough more so than any
other in the city, the Department of Housing Preservation and
Development will get $250,000 to open 10 foreclosure offices citywide,
staffed with experts to help struggling homeowners.
Heidi J. Shrager covers City Hall for the Advance. She may be reached
at shrager@siadvance.com.
WHO GETS WHAT The fiscal 2007 budget the City Council approved
yesterday provides Staten Island groups with money that was not in the
proposal Mayor Michael Bloomberg submitted in May. Here is a partial
list of those receiving extra funds:
Jewish Community Center of Staten Island, $200,000 S.I. Economic
Development Corp., $54,000 Staten Island Mental Health Society, $35,000
Staten Island Federation of PTAs, $29,500 Alice Austen House Museum,
$25,000 Staten Island Community Friendship Clubs, $21,000 Council on the
Arts and Humanities for Staten Island, $21,000 West Brighton Community
LDC, $18,500 Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences, $15,000
Downtown Staten Island Council, $13,500 Meals on Wheels of Staten
Island, $10,500 Greenbelt Conservancy, $10,000 Cromwell Center
Recreation Program, $3,000 Sandy Ground Historical Society, $3,000
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