January 22, 2021
Last week, Mayor Bill de Blasio released a $92 billion Preliminary Budget for City Fiscal Year 2022. The budget addresses a $5.25 billion budget gap that has resulted from COVID-19 expenses combined with falling tax revenue. Of the $5.25 billion, $1.3 billion in savings are achieved through proposed Programs to Eliminate the Gap, or PEGs, and additional savings through strict attrition and hiring management across agencies.
Sadly, with City resources so constrained, the Preliminary Budget advances a very limited number of new investments while proposing reductions in school allocations that could impact Community Schools, the Learning to Work Program, and Affinity School networks. The budget also fails to fund many programs supporting children and families including SONYC summer programming for middle school students for the upcoming summer.
CCC stands ready to advocate for federal stimulus funding, state tax policy, and to protect against state cost shifts to New York City. As the City Administration and City Council make decisions in the months ahead about the Fiscal Year 2022 budget, we will continue to draw attention to the services and supports children, families and communities need to not simply survive or recover, but to thrive.