Zo\u2019s nickel and diming New Yorkers to save a buck.<\/p>\n
Mayor Zohran Mamdani officially rolled out his $124.7 billion spending plan<\/a> Tuesday as he patted himself on the back for closing a so-called multibillion-dollar budget gap with short-term fixes \u2014 but included a menu of hidden fee hikes.<\/p>\n Fiscal watchdogs poked holes in Hizzoner\u2019s cheers that his first-ever budget was \u201cevidence of a new era of government in our city\u201d as his administration touted numerous ways the city would hold onto $1.7 billion over the next two years.<\/p>\n Mayor Zohran Mamdani has rolled out his first-ever budget plan while closing a so-called multibillion-dollar budget gap with short-term fixes.<\/p>\n Critics called it \u201cfake savings\u201d even after he ditched a wildly unpopular plan to hike property taxes by a whopping 9.5%<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cBanking on\u00a0yet to be\u00a0determined revenue-raising gimmicks and identifying fake savings are not wins,\u201d a Democratic operative said. \u201cThis budget plan is as real as Kim Kardashian\u2019s lips.\u201d<\/p>\n Mamdani, who campaigned on an affordability agenda, said over several months new \u201cChief Savings Officers\u201d were able to identify about municipal savings \u2014 but some of the supposed extra cash would come from soaking residents and businesses for more dough.<\/p>\n City Hall plans on jacking up the costs for ambulance transportation to net nearly $25 million more a year and charge people for EMS help even if they aren\u2019t taken to a hospital, which would add another $10 million to the coffers, according to the mayor\u2019s savings program.<\/p>\n Ticketing more cars in bus lanes, upping enforcement on the trade waste industry and public wholesale markets and hiking tree replacement fees were also tied to the savings, city docs stated.<\/p>\n The city also plans to crack down on the popular STAR credit for property owners and \u201cabatement compliance\u201d by increasing audits to collect at least an estimated $24 million more a year, the budget states.<\/p>\n An insider cautioned, \u201cThere\u2019s not enough savings at all.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe only good thing is he gave on property tax and the rainy day fund,\u201d the politico said. \u201cOtherwise, the budget is not where it needs to be at all.\u201d<\/p>\n Mamdani pointed out in his presentation that the city will save $368 million by \u201cimproving the efficiency of public services\u201d and an additional $947 million by merely \u201cimproving our financial management.\u201d Paul Martinka \/ NYPost<\/p>\n The Department of Veterans\u2019 Services is also ready to slash unspecified veteran events to save a measly $60,000, and Sanitation is expecting to cancel a battery disposal program to the tune of $353,000.<\/p>\n Under the \u201csavings\u201d plan, officials merely re-estimated revenue they believed would be more accurate, including counting on millions of dollars more for handgun licenses, permit applications to the Landmark Preservation Commission and Taxi and Limousine Commission license renewal fees.<\/p>\n The lion\u2019s share of savings stems from the Department of Education<\/a>, leaning heavily on vaguely defined \u201ccost containment.\u201d<\/p>\n City Hall plans on jacking up the costs for ambulance transportation and charge New Yorkers for EMS help even if they aren\u2019t taken to a hospital. Robert Miller for NY Post<\/p>\n About $149.5 million this fiscal year is expected to be saved from \u201cimproved financial controls,\u201d while an eye-popping $922 million would be saved next year, which would be driven by \u201cimproved financial control, including a $30.3 million in procurement \u201creform.\u201d<\/p>\n Mamdani, during a Tuesday press conference announcing his first budget, insisted his team searched \u201cfor every efficiency and savings we can find.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is evidence of a new era of government in our city, one that can balance both ambition and fiscal responsibility, one that can invest in housing, childcare, libraries, parks, schools and climate resiliency, while also cutting waste and finding efficiencies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Mamdani administration claims that the Big Apple will hold onto $1.7 billion over the next two years. Paul Martinka for NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cOne that does not accept austerity as the only answer to adversity, one that refuses to kick structural challenges down the road for someone else to have to solve.\u201d<\/p>\n During his presentation, he listed\u00a0about $94 million in saved funds thanks to \u201cpursuing better contract rates, and terminating contracts where city workers can do it better\u201d and stowing away another $28 million by \u201cmodernizing city technology and software license.\u201d<\/p>\n He also boasted the city would save $368 million by \u201cimproving the efficiency of public services\u201d while cutting down on overtime and obsolete programs and highlighted saving a whopping $947 million by merely \u201cimproving our financial management, claiming revenue that the city is owed, and accurately estimating expenses.\u201d<\/p>\n Ticketing more cars in bus lanes is also part of Mamdani\u2019s first-ever budget plan. Tomas E. Gaston for NY Post<\/p>\n The city would also save by consolidating, giving up unused space, combining agency leases and not filling vacant positions.\u00a0<\/p>\n City Hall officials also insisted it was narrowing the budget gap by stretching out payments to the city\u2019s pension funds to save $2.3 billion over two years and implementing a pied-\u00e0-terre tax on ritzy second homes<\/a> that is supposed to generate $500 million \u2014 though that sum has come under scrutiny.<\/p>\n The admin also made lofty claims that it would save hundreds of millions of dollars by slowing down the growth of cases around special education reimbursement and housing vouchers \u2014 but offered up little in real-world fixes on the ballooning budget lines.<\/p>\n