Pretty soon we'll start talking real money here. Supposedly New York State will have a $2 billion surplus entering the new fiscal year that starts April 1.
I don't buy it.
Not in the slightest.
Every year, Pataki, Silver, and Bruno do a kabuki dance on what the final numbers are going to be. And every year the final tally ends up being far higher than the initial numbers, even though there isn't a shred of truth to any of it.
New York runs a structural deficit. The so-called surplus is what happens when the economy grows and tax revenues come in higher than projected. Everyone in Albany salivates at the opportunity to spend this money, even though this money should all be accounted for - in the form of debt payments, shoring up the pension funds, and putting the money in rainy-day funds. If you want to be more ambitious, you could put the money towards retiring debt, giving rebates to taxpayers, or even lowering some taxes and fees, but I'm not counting on that.
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