Public Employee Press: PEP Talk
City budget highlight $
By MIKE LEE
The union achieved significant wins this year in the New York City budget adopted on June 24. The City Council approved a $101 billion fiscal year 2023 budget, the largest ever adopted by the governing body.
“With our allies on the City Council, we successfully protected our workers and the services our communities rely on,” said DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido. “The success in passing this budget and improving the working conditions of our members under the difficult circumstances of the last year proves we can work together. This is especially crucial as we begin to negotiate a new contract in the fall.”
The city has benefited from unexpectedly high tax revenue from a strong stock market and real estate tax increases. The budget is nearly $1.5 billion more than Mayor Eric Adams proposed in his Executive Budget earlier this year.
Among the highlights for DC 37 members:
The budget adds $1.7 billion to the labor reserve during the four years of the financial plan (fiscal year ‘22-fiscal year ‘26), significantly more than an initial .05% proposal from the city with no increase in later years.
DC 37 and the Play Fair Coalition urged the Council for more Parks funding to protect the jobs of hundreds of essential public workers. The adopted budget includes 715 full-time positions added in park cleaning, horticulture, and security titles, including an additional 50 Urban Park Rangers.
For New York City’s three library systems, $456.4 million was secured in the budget, including $165.9 million for the New York Public Library, $130 million for the Queens Public Library, and $125.2 million for the Brooklyn Public Library.
Joint actions by the city and state increased funding for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) so lower-income families will see a larger credit on their 2023 tax return.
Affordable housing is funded at $5 billion in the next 10 years, including $3.6 billion for housing subsidies and $200 million for repairs at NYCHA’s Gowanus and Wyckoff Houses.
The budget also includes a $4 billion multi-year commitment to expanding New York City health care services and an additional 17,000 spots for child care, along with a one-stop-shop unified application process.
