Bloomberg Would Cut Sales Tax

The City Council began examining Mayor Michael Bloomberg's $57.1 billion budget plan this week and is initiating hearings to question, amend, and debate the mayor's proposal before the package is finalized in June.

The mayor's plan would increase public school funding by $2.2 billion, eliminate sales tax on all clothing and shoe purchases under $110, and restructure the way funds are allocated to city-sponsored cultural organizations.

The mayor drew up his budget under the conditions of a budget surplus and was able to set aside $1.4 billion for future budget gaps.

Doug Muzzio, public affairs professor at Baruch College, called this year's proposal a "feel-good budget."

"A surplus, future contingencies, tax cuts, education spending, from the mayor's point of view, what's not to like?" he asked.

Muzzio also said Council Speaker Christine Quinn, D-Chelsea, took steps to "end the budget dance," the procedure by which the mayor leaves out funds for cultural organizations like libraries, which council members usually wind up negotiating for anyway, after extended debate.

Quinn and other council members celebrated this reform in the budget, which would guarantee a baseline fund of $30 million for hundreds of city cultural organizations to be allocated based on "merit," according to a council statement.

But Muzzio said he talked to several council members who expressed concerns that the mayor and speaker did not consult them before announcing the changes.

"There are still needs in their districts," Muzzio said. "It's not going to be 'kumbaya.' There's got to be some conflict."

Lynette Velasco, a spokesperson for council member Inez Dickens, D-Harlem, and chair of the Committee on Cultural Affairs, said that Dickens is "optimistic" about the new funding scheme but will ask for more funding for institutions in her district specifically dealing with "black culture and diversity."

Velasco declined to comment on other aspects of the budget, as the council has just started to examine it.