(AP) - The city has a whopping $4.4 billion surplus going into the 2008 fiscal year, but the mayor said Thursday he still plans to save.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg's (R-NYC) $59 billion dollar budget, which begins July 1, shows another $1.3 billion in revenues for this year than had been predicted in January. The city administration says most of the surprise windfall is from real estate taxes on a number of large building sales and a good year on Wall Sreet.
But officials say budget gaps loom in future years. For that reason, the mayor wants to use some of the surplus to fill some of those gaps.
"Just because you're doing the right things doesn't mean you can throw all caution to the wind and go out there and say, 'We did what was right, but now let's go, and you know, wine women and song,' No!" he said.
Bloomberg still plans to use some of the surplus to cut property taxes and eliminate the city's portion of sales tax on clothing and shoes.
For the mayor's complete budget address, go to channel 612 on your digital iO cable box and select iO Extra.