{"id":674883,"date":"2026-03-23T00:51:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T00:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/674883\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T00:51:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T00:51:11","slug":"mamdanis-budget-balancing-gimmick-could-mean-next-year-is-even-worse-nyc-comptroller-levine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/674883\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani’s budget balancing gimmick could mean next year is even worse: NYC Comptroller Levine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Comptroller Mark Levine <\/a>said Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s plan to draw down $1.2 billion in reserves to balance the budget could make things even worse for taxpayers when it\u2019s time to cook up next year\u2019s spending plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou do not want to be draining the reserves when the economy is otherwise good,\u201d Levine said Sunday <\/a>on CBS New York\u2019s 2\u2019s \u201cThe Point with Marcia Kramer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Comptroller Mark Levine slammed Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s plan to drain $1.2 billion from city reserves. CBS New York<\/p>\n

Raiding $1.2 billion next year and $2.6 billion over the next two years as the Mamdani administration\u2019s <\/a>plans would leave the city flatfooted if the economy goes south.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to leave us more vulnerable next year \u2026 This is not a year to be draining our reserves,\u201d Levine said.<\/p>\n

He said the unknown impact of the Iran war <\/a>also has to be taken into account.<\/p>\n

Emergency funds should be used as a last resort during a real financial crisis such as a recession, a pandemic or another catastrophe, he said.<\/p>\n

Levine also said that the bond credit rating <\/a>agencies\u2019 issuing a \u201cnegative outlook\u201d on the city\u2019s finances \u2014partly citing concerns about tapping into emergency reserves \u2014 is a warning sign that the mayor and City Council to get the budget under control.<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s preliminary $127 billion spending plan projects a $5.4 billion deficit that must be closed. He has proposed closing most of it through tax hikes, not spending cuts.<\/p>\n

Levine projects the deficit at $6.5 billion \u2014 and he said part of the solution should be spending less.<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s preliminary $127 billion spending plan projects a $5.4 billion deficit that must be closed. Matthew McDermott for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re spending more than we\u2019re taking in \u2026 We\u2019re going to have to find more efficiencies throughout the agencies of city government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As he testified during his recent budget testimony before the City Council, Levine said spending on the city\u2019s rental assistance or housing voucher program has exploded and is expected to cost $2.6 billion next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s growing by 4% a month,\u201d Levine said.<\/p>\n

City Council Speaker Julie Menin<\/a> also said she opposes dipping into reserve funds to balance the budget, claiming it\u2019s unnecessary.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, former Democratic Gov. David Paterson admitted Sunday that Florida\u2019s elected officials have been more prudent in managing taxpayers\u2019 dollars than New York\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cFlorida, in spite of its size and population, has been far more careful with how they manage their finances than New York,\u201d Paterson said on 77 WABC radio\u2019s \u201cCats Roundtable\u201d program.<\/p>\n

Levine warned that this move leaves the city vulnerable and drew concern from bond rating agencies. CBS New York<\/p>\n

The city budget is $127 billion, more than Florida\u2019s $115 billion state budget, despite the Sunshine State having nearly three times the population.<\/p>\n

New York State\u2019s $260 billion budget is more than double Florida\u2019s, despite having 5 million fewer residents.<\/p>\n

Paterson said counties in New York fight for more funding from Albany and \u201cit puts an inordinate strain on the tax base \u2026 [New York] is now starting to feel the whole thing coming apart.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Comptroller Mark Levine said Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s plan to draw down $1.2 billion in reserves to balance the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":674884,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,13237,15850,5248,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969,5301],"class_list":["post-674883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-city-budget","tag-comptroller","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-us-news","tag-usa","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116275752830778295","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=674883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/674884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=674883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=674883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=674883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}