As New York City’s municipal budget negotiations come down to the wire, Mayor Adams and his top spokesman said Tuesday it’ll be on time even as City Council members are bracing for the possibility it will be late this year.
By law, the Council and the mayor should adopt a budget to finance the various functions of city government before the 2025 fiscal year starts Monday.
But as first reported by the Daily News, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams’ Democratic leadership team privately told members last week they’re concerned they might blow the deadline this year, as the mayor’s administration continues to push for cuts to various city services, including public libraries and early childhood education, that are seen as nonstarters by many in the Council.
In a press conference at City Hall on Tuesday afternoon, the mayor said he’s on the “same plane” as the speaker when it comes to the budget and that they will “land the plane” together.
Asked whether that means the budget will be on time, Fabien Levy, Adams’ chief spokesman, chimed in: “Yes.”
“The law requires us to have a budget by a date, and the speaker and I, we’re committed to, as we’ve always done, to follow the law,” the mayor added.
Speaker Adams was less confident about an on-time budget when asked about it last week, only saying that’s her “goal,” but that her members are continuing to advocate for restoring funding “the Council believes should never have been cut in the first place.”
If the budget’s late, agencies will continue to receive funding levels allocated last year. However, some buckets of funding could be impacted in the event of a late budget, as could the city’s bond ratings, which may be fiscally problematic, Council sources have warned.
With the deadline days away, budget negotiations continued through this past weekend, with a Council source familiar with the matter describing talks with the mayor’s team as going “around the clock.”
Amid the talks, the mayor went to the Hamptons on Saturday, where he was pictured attending the opening of Ketchy Beach, a ritzy club and restaurant.
At Tuesday’s news conference, Adams said he spoke with the speaker about budget matters Sunday and that he’s confident in his negotiation team led by Jacques Jiha, his budget director.
“I’m allowed to go and rest,” he said of the Hamptons visit. “We’re still in constant contact, I have a great team … and I want to be clear on this: If the only way we can run this city is Eric looking over everything, then we’re in trouble.”