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Reduce City's Debt "Lawmakers Blast Budget Cuts For NYC From Washington, Albany" (John Toscano - February 7) was informative, but missed part of the story not being told by our public officials. Moving tax dollars from New York City to both New York state and Washington in essence redistributes the wealth from the haves to the have nots. The late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan documented how New Yorkers sent more money to Washington than we get back. Many of the 50 states could make the same argument. This imbalance also holds true in the distribution of state aid from Albany to the 62 counties of New York state. Within New York City, residents of Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island (or each of the 59 community planning boards) don't always get back the same amount of money sent to City Hall, Albany and Washington. You could take this analysis down to the local census tract level. Since this imbalance will never change, we would be better off leaving tax levies at the most local level of government. There will be significant savings in administrative costs and a greater percentage of locally generated revenues remaining in our communities. The real question is how New York City manages the billions of dollars already being received from Washington and Albany every year. Does NYC submit grant applications on time? Are current federal and state funded programs being completed on time and within budget? Ha[s] NYC Comptroller William Thompson (who is a 2009 Mayoral candidate) conducted audits of each respective municipal agency to see if NYC is doing a good job managing current federal and state aid programs? Ha[s] New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (also a potential 2009 Mayoral candidate) conducted public hearings to do the same? It is also difficult for our Washington and Albany legislative delegations to make the case for more money when NYC is proudly boasting of a multibillion-dollar budget surplus this year. New York state is number two nationally among the 50 states with each resident responsible for $3,115 of the $50 billion dollar total debt. Uncle Sam's national debt is now over $9 trillion! The current municipal debt is now $55 billion. Each resident is responsible for $6,223, making the Big Apple number one nationally. Being number one in total and resident municipal debt is nothing to be proud about. Each year a greater percentage of the NYC budget will have to go toward debt payments rather than funding current badly needed essential services such as Police, Fire, Sanitation, Education and other Social Services. Why have NYC Council Speaker Quinn [and] NYC Comptroller Thompson never developed any plans to reduce this long term debt? Shouldn't we learn from past mistakes and attempt to reduce both borrowing and long term debt instead of allowing them to grow year after [year]? The combined City, State and Federal debt adds up to over nine trillion dollars. Is this the inheritance we wish to leave future generations which could result in their bankruptcy?
Perhaps government at all levels needs to do a better job with the billions of dollars in taxpayer generated revenues already available, rather than pick the pockets of taxpayers for even more! |
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