Mayor Expected To Call For Education Dept. Cuts

Mayor Bloomberg is expected to call for at least $300 million in cuts today from the Department of Education, sources say.

The cuts are not expected to result in layoffs, a source said. The Department of Education is likely one of many city agencies that will be forced to make cuts to help close a projected $3.1 billion deficit.

If approved, the education cut would reduce this year's $16.7 billion education budget by 1.8%. Although city schools would receive an increase in state funding under Governor Spitzer's recently released budget proposal, the boost for one category of education funding was smaller than expected, prompting complaints from some educators.

In the fall, the mayor's budget director, Mark Page, instituted a hiring freeze and called on all city agencies to find areas in their budget to trim. He told agencies to expect to see their budgets reduced by 2.5% this year and 5% in 2009.

The chairman of the City Council's Finance Committee, David Weprin, said the council would be concerned about cuts that affect services, but added that he thinks spending reductions are unavoidable.

"There may be some cuts the council finds more objectionable than others," he said.

Mr. Bloomberg's budget also is expected to include the extension of a 7% property tax cut instituted last year and a $400 property tax rebate for homeowners. In his State of the City address last week, he said he intended to keep both in his preliminary budget.

The City Council will negotiate with the mayor over his budget in the coming months, before voting on it this summer. Last year's $59 billion budget was approved in June. The city education budget overall has grown nearly 50% during Mr. Bloomberg's mayoralty, from roughly $11.7 billion in operating expenses in 2002.