FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com JUNE 20, 2013 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11 Bloomberg’s fi nal budget means no tax increase BY TERENCE M. CULLEN tcullen@queenscourier.com NYC Mayor’s Offi ce’s Flickr/Photo by Samantha Modell Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the City Council agreed on a balanced, on-time budget on Sunday, June 23. Business Checking with a little something extra. Free with an opening deposit of Nexus 7 32GB Plus, get up to $ 1 0 0 when you open a new business checking account.1 Open a Flushing Bank Free Business Checking account today and receive a Nexus 7 32GB tablet with an opening deposit of $15,000 or more.2 Visit your local Flushing Bank branch, call 800.581.2889, or go to www.FlushingBank.com for details. 1 New account with new money only. A new business checking account is defined as any new business checking account that does not have any authorized signatures in common with any other existing Flushing Bank business checking account(s). An existing checking customer is defined as anyone who currently has or has had a Flushing Bank checking account within the last 24 months. New money is defined as money not currently on deposit with Flushing Bank. You must deposit a minimum of $100 to open a business checking account. You will receive $50 for the completion of 5 debit card purchases. And $50 for the completion of 5 online banking bill-payments via Flushing Bank’s Online Banking portal. Each debit card purchase and each online bill-payment must be $25 or more and must be completed prior to 60 days after the account is opened. The compensation will be credited to the checking account on or about 75 days after the account is opened. The offer is subject to change and early termination without prior notice at any time. A 1099 will be issued in the amount credited to your account. Other fees and restrictions may apply. Speak with a branch representative for more information. 2 New account with new money only. For purposes of the promotion, a new business checking customer is defined as any new business checking account that does not have any authorized signatures in common with any other existing Flushing Bank checking account(s). You must deposit a minimum of $100 to open this account. No minimum balance is required to avoid a monthly maintenance fee. New Free Business Checking account customers will receive a Google Nexus 7 32GB wifi tablet for an opening balance of $15,000 or more. Valid business documentation must be provided at the time of account opening. The cost of the promotional item of $285 (including sales tax and delivery charge) will be reported as interest income in the form of a 1099. The new account must remain open, active and in good standing for six months. If the account is closed prior to six months, the cost of the promotional item will be deducted from the balance. Flushing Bank reserves the right to make promotional item substitutions of comparable value and assumes no liability for any defects in, or direct or consequential damages relating to promotional items. The warranty is the sole responsibility of the manufacturer. Google, Android, and Nexus are trademarks of Google Inc. Google is not affiliated with, or sponsor of, this promotion. Other fees and restrictions may apply. Speak with a Flushing Bank representative for more information about minimum balance requirements and certain fees that may apply to the business checking account. The promotion and offers are subject to change and termination without prior notice at any time. Speak with a Flushing Bank representative for more information. From Forbes.com March 18, 2013. © 2013 Forbes.com LLC. All rights reserved. Used by permission and protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States. The printing, copying, redistribution, or retransmission of this Content without express written permission is prohibited. Flushing Bank is a registered trademark Business Checking • No monthly maintenance fees • No minimum balance required $15,000 or more2 Mayor Michael Bloomberg and councilmembers last week reached an on-time, balanced budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins on Monday, July 1. Highlights of the Fiscal Year 2014 budget — hizzoner’s final — include no tax increases, compensation for federal cuts to public housing and funding toward storm protection. The city will allocate $58 million to the New York City Housing Authority after federal budget cuts took place as a result of the sequester in March. A $250 million fund will be split between securing existing city facilities and building coastal resistance. The Rockaway ferry landing will get $3.3 million from the project, known as “A Stronger, More Resilient New York.” The budget also restores funding to city firehouses, pools and libraries, several of which were on the chopping block under Bloomberg’s budget proposal in May. Since the state Court of Appeals upheld expanded taxi sales, the city is expected to rake in $300 million in tax revenue from outer borough street hail livery service and additional medallions for wheelchair accessible yellow taxicabs. “Our administration’s final budget reflects the commitment to sound financial management that has helped keep our city on firm financial footing, and to the services and programs New Yorkers rely on. I want to thank Speaker Christine Quinn for her effective leadership, as well as the councilmembers for their work,” Bloomberg said in a statement. The budget ending in 2015, however, currently has a $2 billion gap for the next mayor to fill. The figure represents a slight dip from previous projections. RESTORE CUTS FOR DISABLED SERVICES BY MAGGIE HAYES mhayes@queenscourier.com It was a reversal of fortune. A $120 million cut to the Offi ce for Persons with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) would have left programs shorthanded, offi - cials said. But the state legislature eliminated the threat and voted unanimously to fully restore what was lost. The Assembly voted last week to appropriate $90 million for OPWDD. That was in addition to $30 million already restored during the budget process. The Senate approved the funds the next day. Assemblymember Nily Rozic, an OPWDD advocate, has worked closely with organizations such as the Queens Centers for Progress and said the need for services is “enormous.” “There’s no reason to penalize this community, their families and their caretakers,” she said. When the cuts were offi cially made earlier this year, Assemblymember Phillip Goldfeder said the hardest part in passing the budget was accepting the OPWDD reductions. “After passing the budget, we committed to doing whatever necessary to restore it,” he said. “This affects real people and real jobs.” Goldfeder said he has seen fi rsthand how the cuts affect the disabled and their families even though he has been chair of the Autism Retention Committee for just a few months. “It’s painful,” he said. “There’s no better role for the government to protect its citizens than the restoration of these cuts.” The total $120 million restoration will go directly to facilities that provide services to the developmentally disabled, Goldfeder said. Although the restoration went through, OPWDD funds still need to be increased in order to provide the best care, offi cials said. After an initial cut several years ago, OPWDD has seen no increase in funding. However, Goldfeder said last week’s budget reversal was just a fi rst step, and that there is a bright economic outlook for the future. “This is the fi rst place we have to look to restore a lot of the cuts that have taken place over the years,” he said.
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