Queens Courier: Two steps forward, one step back

Ok, so no tax increases, more city funding for education and no cuts to the NYPD are some of the positives of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Fiscal Year 2013 Executive Budget.

Ready for the negatives?

Cuts to the FDNY, cultural institutions and libraries — and fewer funds for after-school and day care programs. So it’s two steps forward and one step back.

And while we applaud Bloomberg for not digging deeper into our pockets by raising taxes (after all, isn’t a seven percent water rate hike enough for now?), we feel he could have done a lot better.

The projected budget, according to the mayor “reduces year-over-year controllable city expenditures, but expenses that are not fully controlled by the city continue to rise and continue to make less funding available for city services.”

So basically what that means is nearly $150 million in proposed cuts for New York City’s libraries and cultural institutions. Queens Library alone could face a shortfall of $26.7 million in funding.

And the parents who right now rely on day care or after-school to care for their children while they work may be out of luck, as more than 40,000 children will be without day care and after-school programs if the budget cuts are not restored.

Read more at: http://queenscourier.com/2012/two-steps-forward-one-step-back/