Paterson to Tackle Dire Budget Deficit in Evening Address
Gov to discuss cuts as next year's shortfall projected to top $6 billion
Tuesday, Jul 29, 2008 | Updated 1:36 PM EDT
Judy Sanders - Office of the Gov
July 28, 2008, New York City - Governor Paterson meets with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and members of the Financial Control Board to discuss ways to deal with the worsening financial situation.
It's looking like the Seventies all over again for New York state and city, but no one is waxing nostalgic about this trip back in time as officials prepare for a budget crisis of ever-widening proportions.
Gov. Paterson will take the airwaves this evening, in a rare live televised speech, to highlight the impending budget crisis, and to outline the steps state officials will take to stem the bleeding. Next year's budget shortfall was projected to be $5 billion just weeks ago, but news accounts are putting that figure at more than $6 billion and counting.
As the nation's housing bubble worsens and financial markets tumble in the wake, New York is being hit from both sides as real estate taxes and Wall Street profits continue to erode.
Paterson's grim warning comes on the heels of meeting of the state financial control board, which met yesterday, and warned that the city's budget shortfall would hit $2 billion in 2010. And, as if that news wasn't bad enough, the Bush administration announced this week that the next president would take office and face a $490 billion deficit.
