De Blasio warns of New York City's multibillion-dollar deficit amid coronavirus, pleads for aid
By: Brooke Singman (Fox News)
What did Bill de Blasio think would happen when he imposed restrictions?
Knee jerk politics only created an illusion of proactive, responsible government to score political points. New York's response to the COVID-19 outbreak wasn't planned. de Blasio only did what was quick, easy, and politically expedient.
Now that the consequences of the ill considered knee jerk response is biting New York's backside, de Blasio wants the country to bail out his knee jerk incompetence. Bill de Blasio wants to blame the virus, blame Trump, blame anybody but himself. Mayor Bill de Blasio is responsible for his knee jerk response and Bill de Blasio is responsible for the consequences.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio discusses why the state needs over $7 billion in the coronavirus stimulus package on 'Sunday Morning Futures.'
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday warned that the city faces a multibillion-dollar deficit amid the coronavirus pandemic, while pleading for federal and state assistance.
New York City previously estimated $7.4 billion in lost revenue due to the coronavirus crisis, but on Wednesday, de Blasio warned that the city is projecting a shortfall of nearly $9 billion— possibly more—over the next two fiscal years.
"We are now $9 billion in the hole between the current fiscal year and the one that begins July 1," de Blasio said.
"We have lost billions upon billions of dollars of revenue that we use to serve our people," de Blasio explained. "It's gone. It's not coming back."
He added: "The only way to possibly keep this city functioning and keep the services provided, keep people on our payroll, is if we get a really substantial stimulus program from Washington."
De Blasio noted that "we don't know when that's going to be right now. They have not scheduled to vote in the Senate. We don't know what it's going to look like. And meanwhile, we have a budget due on June 30 by law."
"This week I asked the state of New York for help. I asked the state of New York to give us a fallback, give us a safety net," de Blasio said. "It's something we need as a last resort if our federal government isn't there for us, if we're going to maintain basic services here in the city."
De Blasio said any possible cuts made by the city would affect "all agencies." It's unclear whether the city might consider tax measures as well.
"There is literally no way that we can solve this problem without federal help or without having to make very, very painful choices that will affect the quality of life in this city, our ability to provide basic services and how many people we're able to employ to support you in the middle of a pandemic," he added.
De Blasio's latest plea is the latest example of local and state governments warning about fiscal shortfalls as a result of coronavirus-related shutdowns and lockdowns.
Governors across the nation have also asked for federal aid, but it is unclear whether they will receive additional funds.
New York has been considered the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, reporting on Wednesday more than 199,000 positive cases of COVID-19 in New York City alone and more than 16,400 deaths.
While New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has given the green light for some regions of the state to open, New York City is not there yet. De Blasio, last week, predicted the city could begin its "Phase 1" by the middle of June.
Meanwhile, last week, de Blasio claimed that the city required $7.5 billion in federal aid to get back on track after being crippled by the coronavirus pandemic. He also claimed that the money would not be going to fix past financial errors, insisting that before the pandemic, the city was doing better than ever.
"You've seen what has happened in the city in recent years. Right before this pandemic, the highest level of employment in our history, booming economy, lowest crime since the 1950s, more and more kids graduating on time in our public schools than ever in our history, you name it, this city was moving forward."
Fox News' Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report.
Brooke Singman is a Politics Reporter for Fox News. Follow her on Twitter at @BrookeSingman.
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All we need is another bailout and everything will be fine. Nothing to see here; move along.
Maybe he could raise taxes on tobacco and booze some more. Two years ago a pack of cigarettes cost $13 there.
"This week I asked the state of New York for help. I asked the state of New York to give us a fallback, give us a safety net," de Blasio said. "It's something we need as a last resort if our federal government isn't there for us, if we're going to maintain basic services here in the city."
That should go over well in the State of new York.
Will Cuomo require the citizens of the "State of New York" to Help "New York City", more than they already do ?
Nerm,
I am really sick of this. First, there are article complaining that it's all NY fault that they had so many coronavirus cases because they didn't close soon enough and the mayor encouraged people to go about their business and now their are complaints that because he closed down NY to stop the horrific death rate that we had, due to the lack of information from the top (i.e. the virus in NY is NOT from China but from Europe), it's also the Mayors fault.
Could you people who just have a gripe about NY make up your mind which thing you are going to complain about?
We New Yorkers are pretty tired too. Tired of being the biggest donor state in the nation. We give in taxes and their are a whole bunch of states that are only takers. They managed to leach more out of us by taking away our SALT deductions. Try that on.
That's been my complaint for a while now.
I thought you supported higher taxes on the wealthy?
I suppose that is one way of looking at it. I prefer looking at it like New York CITIZENS pay federal income taxes and the State of New York does not. No state takes money, it is granted to them.
People are being treated equally. Your deduction in New York shouldn't be any more than someone's in Florida.
The claim has been that New York quickly took appropriate steps in response to the outbreak. The Federal government (primarily Trump) was blamed for the slow response.
The news reporting (past and present) shows that New York did not respond quickly and New York did not respond appropriately.
The $9 billion loss of revenue projected by Mayor de Blasio is a result of how New York chose to respond to the outbreak.
Does the balance of payment analysis include Federal money spent to support the United Nations and the international diplomatic corps residing in New York City? Does the analysis include direct Federal support provided refugees? Does the analysis include activities of the Federal Reserve? Does the analysis include Federal interest payments made to financial holders of Treasury securities? Does that analysis include processing fees paid to JP Morgan for administering for Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards?
New York receives more Federal money (directly and indirectly) than has been included in the analysis.
Actually it does not. It shows the exact opposite. March 1 was our first case. March 3rd our second. On March 7, Governor Cuomo declared a state of emergency in New York after 89 cases had been confirmed in the state, 70 of them in Westchester County, 12 in New York City.
I would say that was pretty fast. And this is not the first time I have heard this and it gets really old. Tell me, when all the states who messed up and opened up too soon and start to see spikes like we are seeing now, should I mock them?
Honestly Nerm, you really don't get how that long list goes.
NYC actually receives no financial benefit from the federal government from having the UN there.
The state does not receive fed support for refugees. All refugees receive funds through the Office of Refugee Resettlement. The money goes directly to them no matter where in the US they live.
Does the analysis include activities of the Federal Reserve?
The federal reserve is an independent dept and has nothing to do with NY
Again nothing no benefit to NY
JP Morgan makes money off of that, not NYC. Any profits goes to the Federal government, so it is a payout from our state.
Prove that Nerm. I am sick of people making claims that are just not true.
And while we are talking what state do you live in?
Emergency declarations are part of the Federal emergency and disaster response system. The state of New York has declared a number of emergencies over the last several decades. The FEMA response to the declared emergency began on March 12. Gov. Cuomo's declaration of emergency was about obtaining Federal assistance.
I have actually reviewed the balance of payments analysis made by the Rockefeller Institute . So, yes, I do get how long that list is. I also understand that the balance of payments analysis isn't precise simply because the Federal accounting doesn't identify all spending by state. And several Federal programs are administered by private financial institutions who are compensated from the general public rather than by the Federal government. Obamacare is an example where private health insurance companies administer the Federal program and are compensated from premium payments rather than by the Federal expenditures.
Since New York is heavily dependent upon financial businesses, any Federal legislation that benefits financial institutes provides benefit to New York. However, the nature of financial operations isn't based upon direct receipt of revenue from the Federal government. New York as a financial center receives far more Federal benefit than an accounting of Federal expenditures would reveal.
I already 'proved' that by citing the example of JP Morgan administering EBT cards. And, last I heard, JP Morgan does pay wages. The Federal government provides New York a large benefit by loosening restrictions on financial businesses to obtain revenue from the general public across the country.
I live in Minnesota. Minnesota is a so called 'donor' state, too.
Dear Mr. Trump,
Please print more money. Seven billion dollars will do. For now. I might want more next week.
This shouldn't be a problem for you. I'm sure no one else in the country is also going broke. I know I could open up the city a little more to get the economy going and generate revenue that way, or cut back on expenses, but then I wouldn't have anything to complain about.
Sincerely,
Your Pal,
Bill de Blasio
Dear Mr. Trump,
Please remove the SALT tax cap that costs our state 10 billion dollars annually from our hard-working families and so we can have some self-determination, instead of redistributing it to other states. Then we wouldn't need to ask for aid from the federal gov.
Your Pal,
Gov. Cuomo.
See, I fixed it!
btw,
New York, Connecticut, Maryland and New Jersey File Appeal
In U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Taxation, in general, is about redistributing money. I find deep irony and hypocrisy in people who support that system for programs that benefit them, but whine about the process when it goes to help others.
NY citizens,( at least the wealthy ones) should not be able to evade their share of federal taxes through a loophole. Pay your share and stop asking for preferential treatment.
Sean,
First of all, it wasn't a loophole. A loophole is something that some people get that others don't.
Second, the people bearing the brunt of the taxes are not the wealthy but the middle and blue-collar folks. That cap was punitive and actually can be contested as such, and that is why it is in the courts. Also, taxes can not be levied unfairly to different states, so that will also go to court.
And for the record, even before we had the SALT cap, we paid MORE than our fair share.
Tell me Sean, which state do you live? I'd like to see if you are a giver state or a taker state.
It wasn't a loophole. A loophole is something that some people get that others don't.
Tacos,
NYS never complained about what they paid in taxes to the federal gov until we had the punitive SALT cap put on us and other selected states, all of which just happen to be blue states. That was punitive. That is money that we now have to beg the Federal gov back for. You don't see the irony in that?
Meanwhile, per capita other states got loads of money from the last Federal payout, while NY had to struggle with the least amount per capita. Shouldn't have been distributed by who needed it most instead of a windfall for some states?
MUVA,
I am an accountant. It is not a loophole. And I pay more than my fair share.
Of course it is. Some people get to evade their share of federal taxes and get a deduction that isn't available to similarly placed people in other states. If you want it changed, have NY change it's taxation burden. People in Arizona making the same money shouldn't pay a higher share of their income to the feds than those in NY. You want to spend lots of money on schools? There are tradeoffs.
the people bearing the brunt of the taxes are not the wealthy but the middle and blue-collar folk
Nonsense. If the 10,000 cap is materially affecting your tax return, you either have significant income or property. Those making less then 200,000 per year pay 5% of the increased revenue. People making more than a million pay more than half.
Do you hear it when you say it out loud? New York struggles? Have you been to other places?
Sean,
It is not a special deduction if it is given to everyone and it was. What isn't are corporate taxes where they are loads of ways to not pay. NYS was paying the same way as everyone else was until this cap. The cap is what is unfair.
They don't. They are actually a taker state. They get more than they pay in.
The choice shouldn't be made punitive. We pay it. That is our choice by the town we move to and the fact that we care about education and we are decentralized. The fact that this is then used against us, is totally ridiculous. It's not like purchasing a lux item. We should all be paying the same percentage of taxes on our property tax.
Bull. Look at the chart here: 3.3.3
And I see you have still not said what state you come from. If I remember right it's Wisc, which means you are a taker state, too.
Do you hear yourself out loud? Have you been to NY? You seem to have the misguided idea that we all live fat. We don't. This is mostly an ag state. And even then, we are mostly middle class/ blue collar/ state.
It's the mayor of New York City who is asking for the money. How much Ag ya got going on in Manhattan?
How much NYC revenue comes from taxing blue collar people versus people in suits?
Tacos,
That is not how it works. If our idiot mayor thinks it is, he is wrong. And as I just showed Jim, the average NYer makes $57K a year. Hardly big money.
It is our Gov who is asking for Federal help.
According to U.S. Census Bureau’s 2013-2017 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the median individual income in New York City is $50,825. The median household income in New York City is $57,782. Household income in the U.S. Census data takes into account the income of everyone who lives inside a single housing unit. This includes anyone from individuals, groups of roommates and families. Note that this figure represents the gross amount, before taxes and other deductions.
I agree it's not big money, but I bet almost everyone below that median isn't paying much, if anything, in income tax. A median average in a city of millions with super rich people in the top half of that median is a misleading figure. If you're trying to sell me on the idea that NYC is struggling because the average New Yorker only makes $57K, I'm not buying it.
Hmm, I guess New York does take money from the federal government.
The elephant in the room for this discussion is the very many, extremely wealthy people who live or work in NYC, and pay massive amounts of tax. Are you really going to try to compare these folks to people in other towns around the country?
Between the wealthy taxpayers he can tap into, and the extensive public programs he could consider cutting back on temporarily, there is probably a lot Mayor Bill can do on his own before hitting up the rest of the country for more money. Keep in mind, we have already passed a 2 TRILLION dollar relief package and Congress is talking about doubling that.
This is like fairytale levels of invented money.
we don't get to write off our state taxes which are collected as "sales tax" only.
we don't have state income tax or anything like that. (texas)
y'all chose your version of state/local govt....
pay for it yourselves. and be glad ya still get the 5k write-off
What the heck? We don't get to write off our sales taxes either. What a false comparison.
Tacos,
Do you know what meidan means? Here is a hint. It's not average.
And we are not talking about NYC taxes. We are talking about NYS taxes. You seem to be confused. And btw, everyone who lives and works in NYC has to pay federal taxes, not only city taxes. The OBM only handles taxes paid by NYC residents to the CITY.
Hmm, I guess New York does take money from the federal government.
You may want to review this chart:
Well, you seem to have a problem figuring out that NYC is not NYS and that even people in NYC are not all rich, so yeah I am going to say that the people of NYS are really just like any other people.
Yeah and did you ever look at what a chart of that looks like per capita and then you can tell me if that is far or not.
Again where are you from?
it is not a false comparison...
we both pay state taxes.... in texas we just pay ALL our state taxes in a different form.
and we dont get to write off any of our state tax paid. none of it.
so, you do get something we don't get. and we call that a loophole.
I'm not complaining about not writing off my state taxes,
so it is only natural for me to wonder why anyone would complain they can not write off enough of their state taxes
you are lucky ya get that 5k off your federal taxes... must be nice
California is mostly an ag state too and most of the people who live in the ag regions of the state have no objections to the new SALT rules. Our real estate prices are such that 750k buys a virtual mini mansion which is the new cap on mortgage deductions. It affects virtually no one outside of the Bay Area and Los Angeles to San Diego. As far as state and local taxes go, prop. 13 moderates our property taxes and the maximum income tax rate affects few citizens so at the lower rates few reach the 10k threshold. It was long past time that high state and local tax states could mask the true cost of their voted services by paying less federal taxes than the same wage earner would pay in another state who didn’t have that deduction! Why does Florida with more people than New York have half the annual budget that New York State does? What are New York citizens getting that those in Florida are not?
But we are NOT talking about state taxes. That is not the issue.
I know what median means. I think I demonstrated that by referring to the half below the median and above. The median is the figure in the middle. So as many people make less than 57K, that many people also make more. Knowing the way tax brackets are structured, I think I can guarantee that the bulk of taxes are paid by the people making above the median. That's what I was trying to say. Hope that clarifies things.
Why? Why do you want to talk about NYS taxes when the seed is about the mayor of New York City and the budget of New York City?
What? You mean deblasio didn’t prepare ny city for the pandemic! Oh the irony.
It's Trump's fault. I promise.
Please don't put words into my mouth.
And thank you for proving my earlier point:
So Gazoo and Tacos what state do you live in?
My comment wasn’t a response to any comments, just the article.
I didn't. Somebody always thinks something is Trump's fault even though it can't possibly be his fault. I never said you, in particular, thought that. I was trying to imply it either. I wasn't even contemplating about what you specifically were thinking.
Does that matter? The seed isn't about us. Are you trying to talk about different states? Why? The seed isn't even about a state. It's about a city. New York City.
Isn't this the same Mayor who said they could handle all the illegals flowing into the country? They can't even take care of their LEGAL citizens.
No, this is the same mayor that said he would defend undocumented immigrants in New York against aggressive immigration measures since the early days of the Trump administration.
He never said anything about supporting them or the rest of the country Jeremy.
Well Geeze Jeremy, maybe that had something to do with the 365,000 sick and the 29,500 dead, that had our city still at an absolute shut down and nothing to do with immigration at all.
You guys will throw anything at the wall and hope it sticks.
Thank you for answering my question.
No. I'm not a liberal or a Democrat. I have common sense.
Nothing to say about that? Tell me, how many sick and dying did your state have to deal with?
Well, neither am I, so thanks for playing.
so what, every city and town aka the entire country lost revenue because of the virus.
bigger cities have bigger problems. NY should get back to work. and stop bitching about it.
.
Exactly. But we're supposed to care more about New York City because we're always supposed to care more about New York City.