Chat With the IBO on Tuesday
February 4th, 2009
Have any questions about the administration’s new preliminary budget?
We are bringing Ronnie Lowenstein of the Independent Budget Office here on Tuesday at 2 p.m. to answer them.
From 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 10, we will host the Independent Budget Office’s director for a live online chat. Lowenstein has been director of the office since 2000 and a staff member since its inception as the city’s independent, nonpartisan fiscal analyst. She will take your inquiries on what is included and not included in the budget, how its proposals could affect you and what the city’s options really are to reduce a gaping $4 billion deficit.
For starters, we can take some of your questions now. Respond to this post and we’ll cue up your inquiries on Tuesday. Tell us what you want to know about the FY 2010 budget.
By Courtney Gross on February 4, 2009, 2:09 pmIn category: Economy, Measuring UP, Public Finance | 2 Comments »


February 5th, 2009 at 9:46 am
1) How can the city be reducing pension contributions for most agencies next year, and projecting such a moderate increase in future years, given its investment losses and the deal to allow teachers to retire at age 55 rather than age 62?
2) How many teachers took that deal? What will their retiree health care cost?
3) Since the decision to increase the presumed rate of return on the city’s pension funds to 8 percent, what has the rate of return actually been?
4) How does the city’s rate of normal replacement on capital infrastructure — repaving streets, replacing water and sewer pipes, etc. — compare with the rate required to prevent deterioration, given normal useful life?
5) If senior citizens had to pay taxes on retirement income at the same rate as workers with the exact same income, how much money would the city earn?
6) Is the city’s share of state education funding, including STAR aid, going down again?
7) What is the ratio of money paid to retirees, in pensions and non-wage benefits, to money paid to those providing public services? Be sure and account for the higher cost of health insurance for those at older ages.
8) The budget claims the city saves money by issuing variable rate debt rather than fixed rate debt, but you always save money in the short run with variable rate debt due to accepting the risk of rising rates. For fixed and variable rate bonds issued in 2006, which cost less in interest in the past six months?
February 10th, 2009 at 5:05 am
Would it be fiscally responsible to offer the highest paid teachers and administrators in the Department of Education an early retirement incentive? Thank you.