February 09, 2005
Deputy mayor for hairsplitting
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office has finally explained how diverting developer payments from the city treasury for a Jets stadium wouldn't be using "revenue streams that are currently supporting the city budget," as deputy budget director Alan Anders had promised the city council last year. Take it away, New York Times reporter Charles Bagli:
Although most Pilot payments flow into the city's operating budget, [city budget director Mark] Page said that he was not contradicting Mr. Anders's statement. He said that by 2009, when the first payment would be due, the Pilot payments would swell to about $70 million, from the current $47.6 million. The new money, he said, would pay for the city's stadium investment.
So there you have it: The city wouldn't be spending money that's currently supporting the city budget, because it's future money! With, like, Ronald Reagan on the tens.
Among those not buying this argument is city council speaker Gifford Miller, who issued a statement yesterday that "we'll take every legislative and other remedy available to stop the mayor from making an end run around the city legislature so that funds are not taken away from critical priorities like education and affordable housing." We'll see what that "every remedy" looks like; several political observers have suggested that the council could threaten to cut funding to the city Economic Development Corporation, the agency that collects the PILOT funds, if the mayor insists on using it as his personal slush fund.
LATE NOTE: Just heard that Bagli also reported (on TV, not in the Times) that the scheduled February 16 vote of the Public Authorities Control Board on the Jets stadium has been cancelled, given the increasing confusion over how it would be paid for, how much would be paid for land rights, etc. No new vote is scheduled, so it could be a while yet before state assembly speaker Sheldon Silver reveals his deciding verdict on the project.
