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New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. today issued the following statement on Mayor Bloomberg’s proposed Fiscal Year 2009 Preliminary Budget and four-year financial plan for the City:
“Today’s plan reflects the unfortunate shift in the city’s economy and is a testament to prudent fiscal planning. The steps Mayor Bloomberg has proposed to balance next year’s budget may be difficult, but would be much more burdensome without the actions the Mayor has already taken to prepare for uncertain economic times. When the economy was much stronger, the City was able to set aside funds to address future needs and to prepare for an inevitable downturn in the business cycle.
The current volatile economic climate creates the need to exact a number of belt-tightening measures to prevent future sizeable budget gaps.
I plan to work with the Mayor’s office and all city agencies to continue to identify ways to ensure a balanced budget in hopes that tougher economic times do not yield more drastic measures. Together, we can meet this challenge to ensure that resources accumulated during flush years continue to be available to sustain services when an economic downturn reduces our revenues.”
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