Due to the $997 million General Obligation bond refinancing set to be finalized on June 7th and lower than expected interest rates for the current year, the City will gain more than $100 million in additional funds
to help close gaps in the Fiscal Year 2013 budget, according to City Comptroller John C. Liu.
Liu
will provide the information, which has not yet been included in the
Mayor’s Executive Budget, today when he testifies before the City
Council
Finance Committee.
Comptroller
Liu said that lower than expected interest rates will yield $33.6
million in savings which could be rolled over to FY 2013; while the
refinancing, which was announced on May 23rd by the
Comptroller’s Office and Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget, would
produce savings of $67.8 million in FY 2013 and $68.9 million for
Fiscal Year 2014.
“By
successfully navigating the bond market, we have been able to save more
than $100 million which can now be used to provide budgetary relief,”
Comptroller Liu said. “As our national and local economies remain
fragile and we are facing a number of risks to the City’s bottom line,
we must continue to aggressively identify savings and recoup every
single dollar the City is rightfully owed.”
Comptroller
Liu also reiterated his call for the City to recoup as much as $163
million from Hewlett Packard as a result of overbilling and
underperforming
on the contract to upgrade the City’s 911 call system, which was
uncovered as a result of a recent audit.
Some other aspects of Liu’s testimony and budget report, which can be found at
http://www.comptroller.nyc.
·
The
budget relies heavily on one-shots to close the gap, specifically an
estimated $1 billion for the sale of taxi medallions that may not
materialize
·
The settlement from CityTime and $1 billion in funds from the Retiree Health Benefit Trust are being used to close gaps
·
Events
outside the City’s control such as the Eurozone or a stalemate in
Washington D.C. should spur the City to institute a Capital Acceleration
plan
to foster job growth and address the high unemployment rate
·
The
potential cost as a result of City Hall’s failed negotiations with the
United Federation of Teachers and Council of School Supervisors and
Administrators
could be as high as $2.5 billion in FY 2013
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