Yonkers Mayor Spano Reveals Four-Year Financial Projections
City’s Collective Budget Deficit Projected to Increase Up to $428 Million by 2016
YONKERS, NY -- After his recent participation at the Mayors Summit on Municipal Finance where Mayors from around the State compared their fiscal projections, Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano today released the City’s projected four-year financial forecast. Assuming the gap between the recurring revenues and expenditures continues to grow, it can be projected that the City’s aggregate budget shortfall could rise to $428 million by 2016. Mayor Spano’s four-year projection is the first one ever supplied by Yonkers since the Mayor issued an executive order mandating one be released each fiscal year.
“For the first time, Yonkers is looking ahead and evaluating our accurate future sources of revenue and expenditures,” said Mayor Spano. “By identifying these figures now, we can best set a course plan on how to right the wrongs of the past in our cities’ finances and make the tough choices that will provide for a better tomorrow.”
Yonkers’ projected budget deficits for the upcoming years are based on actions taken during this year’s budget. The revised figures are as follows:
· 2013-2014 = $86 Million
· 2014-2015 = $155 Million
· 2015-2016 = $187 Million
Mayor Spano added, “What we are seeing and what was realized at the Mayors Summit, is that these budget gaps are not bridgeable in just Yonkers but in other municipalities across the State as well. However, the proverbial buck stops here, in Yonkers, and we must take accountability, stop the gimmicks and make the very difficult choices necessary to move this City forward.”
In calculating these deficits, the City assumes the following: a rise in property taxes limited to the two percent tax cap per year; a three percent increase in revenues from sales and use tax per year; the annual increase in Yonkers Board of Education expenses up to seven percent; and the rise in debt service, retirement and healthcare costs up to 10 percent. These assumptions are subject to continued rethinking and change.
Mayor Spano’s fiscal goal is to overcome these challenges by closing the severe structural gap between recurring expenditures and recurring revenues. Mayor Spano believes cities must commit to the goal of self-help through sound and honest budgeting reform and equalizing recurring expenditures and revenues, supplemented with precision targeting of state and federal aid requests.
“I am committed to building fiscal stability in Yonkers and I believe that identifying our fiscal obstacles now is the next step in embarking on a comprehensive overhaul of its historical budgetary practices,” said Mayor Spano.
Some of those fiscal obstacles include the erosion of the City’s tax base due to the lack of re-evaluation in nearly 60 years, outstanding labor contracts, lack of City oversight on Board of Education spending and capital infrastructure that is in need.
Mayor Spano already has begun addressing Yonkers’ financial crisis by convening a Commission of Inquiry into the City’s Finances earlier this year. The Commission, led by former Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch and New York Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, has been charged with providing the Administration with a clear understanding of the City’s budgetary crisis. The Commission identified an $89 million budget deficit for 2013 that Mayor Spano has since closed. The Mayor will also continue to participate in the coalition of New York cities which was formed this week and which will be developing its action agenda into the fall of 2012.
SOURCE: Christina Gilmartin, Communications Director, Office of the Mayor.
Who cares ? But I was thinking that a
few shower rapes would be a nice touch
to Fat Nick's stint in the pen..
Posted by: Sam "ace" Rothstein | July 20, 2012 at 17:59
Sick comment , Sam ! Suggest therapy and you stay away from the computer for a minimum of a year !
Posted by: Fact checker | July 20, 2012 at 19:15
I am not a union member, but merely a taxpayer. Seeing that the municipal unions have not had a raise in the past 3-4 years, and no raises scheduled for at least the next 4 years, combined with the enormous defecit projected and I see banktuptcy on the horizon for this city.
Posted by: Taxed Out | July 20, 2012 at 23:07
bankruptcy?.....yep
stick a fork in it - it's cooked.
and yet no one in city hall talks about the giveaways they have benefited from off the backs of taxpayers
the friends club
and the endless "not for profit" organizations.
just amazing........business as usual bullshit.
Posted by: show them the door | July 21, 2012 at 01:46
Right on target-COY gives the new cabinet company at the former Stewart's Stamping & the new hotel in the X-County Center sales tax & property tax exemptions.
Posted by: anon | July 21, 2012 at 08:27
"lack of City oversight on Board of Education spending" Yet with only a 50% graduation rate and a few going to college they gave Bernie P a 300K per yr 3 yr ext AMAZING!
Posted by: Really | July 21, 2012 at 08:54
Contrary to myth, John Spencer ruined the finances of this City.
He gave everything and anything he could to the unions, sometimes even more than they asked, in exchange for political money and support for himself and people like Liam McLaughlin and Rich Martinelli.
He also spent like a drunken sailor. If an item could be accomplished for 5 bucks, Johnny and his expert crew were sure to get it done for 20.
So despite his fist pumping when Potatoe Pataki put on the farce of doing away with the control board, John Spencer has brought this city to its fiscal knees.
In retrospect, we would have been better off if the control board had stayed in place. Johnny would not have been able to rape the city and the taxpayers as he did.
Forget not that Moody's downgraded Yonkers' debt to "junk" status - a tribute to John Spencer and his pals.
Bankruptcy is certain. The union workers will feel the harm as much as the taxpayers will.
The kicker is that Johnny and his crew are now planning to have Liam become City Council President next year. If it happens, that will be sure to accelerate the bankruptcy, since Liam will continue in his rubber stamping of Johnny's orders.
Forget not that McLaughable was the Budget Chairman while the City's finances went to ruin.
Those guys are experts - experts at wasting and spending our money. They can't spend their own because, personally, they are most likely on the balls of their financial asses.
Posted by: A Tribute to Spencer & McLaughlin | July 21, 2012 at 10:04
You said it all! Let's not forget that Mayor Mikey rewarded $pencer for ruining the city by giving Cathy Spring-$pencer a job making 6 figures. I believe the job was made up from whole cloth.
Posted by: I hate this town | July 21, 2012 at 14:39
McLaughlin will NEVER become Council Pres. He is hated equally by both dems and reps. He will never get either the C line or the I line. He has said disgusting things about the leadership of all parties. He is a blow hard and is a non starter. He has never accomplished anything of note and will never do so.
Posted by: Red goes down | July 21, 2012 at 15:07
QUACK !!
Posted by: Sam "ace" Rothstein | July 21, 2012 at 17:48
chapter nine of the federal bankruptcy code has been
invoked by stockton california and other cities are about to do the same...maybe the city of yonkers
should consider it because one of the things that
a special master is permitted to do is to open up
the contracts and modify those parts that are inequitable and unaffordable...the time has come unless
of course the unions sit down and make concessions
that put them on parity with the benefits received
in the private sector....including making sure that
overtime is assigned by an ombudsman not by a member
of the department
Posted by: anon | July 21, 2012 at 18:08
Edelfraud,
Attacking the pensions again,
give it a rest. As Henry Hill said
so eloquently in Goodfella's,
F*ck You, Pay Me !!
Posted by: Philly Blunt | July 21, 2012 at 18:25
Edelfraud,
One other thing,The unions should
"give back" NOTHING ! They did not cause this
financial problem, and they are certainly under
no obligation to correct it. The politicians caused
this mess, with all the give-aways to cronies,and
all the FREE MONEY to the great unwashed.look
at Little Mario's budget, cuts across the board
but a 5% increase in welfare.Fix the free handouts
and I bet NYS has a surplus of cash. Just saying..
Posted by: Philly Blunt | July 21, 2012 at 18:38
Poor littlet Mikey sitting on the fence trying to make a dollar out of 99 cents.
Posted by: Every penny counts! | July 21, 2012 at 21:02
that's fine the unions don't have to do a thing..
the special master in a bankruptcy can do it all
with clawback as well....good luck with that
Posted by: anon | July 22, 2012 at 08:37
Edelballs, the unions have given back over the last four years. They have given uo uniform allowances, FICA money, and most importantly no raises in the last four years. Did you ever bother to read the comptrollers trport on the pension system? 82% of the money generated comes from prudent investments, not from the taxpayer. A ombudsman to assign overtime? You really have warped thinking. Police/fife probably create the most overtime due to the nature of the job. Let the people who know the job handle it. Everytime a cop or fireman goes out injured it creates overtime because both departments dont have enough personnel. Let the supervisors assign overtime as needed based on each departments policy. The reason Yonkers is in such a hole is because of the politians with their giveaways to developers, lack of goung after tax deadbeats, all the special deals given, and all the political hires. Its not the city employees fault.
Posted by: B | July 22, 2012 at 10:44
its not about overtime per se its about making sure
that it doesn't go only to those who can use it
to enhance their pensions...and I totally agree that
the politicians of both parties got us into this
mess...but it wasn't because they gave the developers
tax incentives to build...it was because they made
deals with the unions on pensions and salaries in
return for their political support so let's be fair
let's clean it all up and fix the problem
Posted by: anon | July 22, 2012 at 11:05
Contrary to popular belief the YPD and YFD are not overpaid. When compared to other departments in Westchester County there is nothing unreasonable or extraordinary about their contracts. A profession is a profession and deserves a professional wage. They have not received a raise in years. Unlike other municipalities they do contribute to their medical insurance. In fact most town and village departments have a higher salary then that of Yonkers. If your issue is overtime then the choice is simple; either go without proper emergency service coverage or hire more police officers and fire fighters. Does one expect a worker to put their lives on the line without any compensation? The YPD and YFD along with their counterparts in Mount Vernon are the busiest departments in Westchester. What they make is what they earn. FACT!!!!! Jeff Meyer Tuckahoe, NY
Posted by: Jeffrey Meyer | July 22, 2012 at 12:06
Sir , your comment about Nick Spano brings you no credit.
Posted by: Fact checker | July 22, 2012 at 18:38
First off the guy is a liar and one trick pony. Whoever supplies you with information, and most likely you just lie as in the past, you are wrong. Do the math pinhead and if it as you say every cop/firefighter would have $300,000 pensions. Keep telling stories you little liar.
Posted by: Liar | July 22, 2012 at 23:43
i just watched this video
Are you kidding Mayor Spano?
this is a joke.
for the record: i'm not union
contrary to Anon's post i offer the following:
let's not forget Yonkers is incorporated and in "the public trust".
as a corporation its bears the same fiscal responsibilities as any other corp.
in the public trust means as elected officials we entrust you with safeguarding our basic services and safety.
what you fail to mention is the debt service this corporation has managed to achieve would likely bridge the budget gap.
So...what does this mean?
it means over the years this corporation in the public trust has spent more then it can afford.
blame the economy all you want.
the truth of the matter is you as government are the cause of this economy.
Additional Taxes?
think again.
Personally i believe this requires a class action lawsuit against Yonkers and its elected officials - current and former - for fiscal malfeasance.
Yes I'm Serious.
Posted by: take'm to task | July 23, 2012 at 00:35
Notice how the unions try to take the overtime issue
and make it into a safety issue..its not..no one
has a problem with overtime..the problem is using
the overtime to enhance a pension...that is the
practice that has to stop....and everyone knows that
overtime has been given to those about to retire
rather than spread evenly over the entire department
an ombudsman would make sure that whatever overtime was
needed was not simply used a a pension augmenting vehicle
Posted by: anon | July 23, 2012 at 11:13
no need for a class action not sure the action would
lie...but you could force a chapter 9 if enough
yonkers residents signed a petition most probably...
and a chapter 9 would vitiate the contracts and allow
the special master to right the fiscal ship
Posted by: anon | July 23, 2012 at 13:13
the apologist for the politicians has spoken.
Posted by: feds please...PLEASE | July 24, 2012 at 02:28
If you keep saying it, people will believe it. Use jealousy to blame pension earners.
Your 401-k doesn't look so great right now.......your response, give the guy with a good pension a 401-k, b/c I don't have one.
It's all about jealousy. Face it, unless you get hooked into a good job, with great pay, you're jealous of those pensions.
Lawyers are the most jealous. They see money, they want to take it. Greedy bastards.
Posted by: blame the shrinking middle class | July 24, 2012 at 14:22