Community Boards Gets Slashed

Community Boards are being hit by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s budget cuts. The board’s budgets will be slashed by 8% or $16,000 from their annual $200,000. This may not seem like much, but it is a huge difference for the actual boards that have never received a raise even during good times. The budget reduction will force community boards to have to pick between hiring planning experts or basic operations of their offices. [more]

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has stated his opposition to the cuts.

The Campaign for Community-Based Planning has drafted a letter to Mark Page, Director of the NYC Office of Management and Budget. In this letter they call for Boards to be able to receive more funding to enable them to undertake effective planning processes.

This news comes after recent legislation has been looked at to increase the power of community boards in development

[Letter]

Here is the full petition.

Mark Page, Director

Office of Management and Budget

75 Park Place

New York, New York 10007

Dear Mr. Page:

We are writing to urge that you reconsider the proposed cuts to the city’s 59 community boards. The future ability of community boards to perform their charter-mandated responsibilities will be thrown into serious jeopardy if these cuts are allowed to go forward.

We are the Community-Based Planning Task Force—a coalition of community boards, citywide civic groups, grass roots neighborhood organizations, academics, and environmental justice activists that advocates for a more open, transparent, inclusive, and participatory planning process. Community boards are New Yorkers’ gateway to participation in the planning and development decisions that directly impact their neighborhoods, and we have consistently recommended increasing the boards’ resources so that they can plan more effectively for their districts.

The average community district has a population of over 130,000 people, making it comparable in size to Elizabeth, New Jersey and Albany, New York. All board responsibilities are carried out by a skeleton staff, and any extra personnel, such as planners, must be paid from funds raised beyond the board’s approximately $200,000 annual budget—which also pays for all salaries, office supplies, equipment, printing, and mailing. In comparison, Albany’s Division of Planning has an annual budget of $370,000 and employs six full-time staff. While the New York City Charter specifies that the boards are authorized to hire planners, it is the exception rather than the rule that they do so—they are forced to choose between planning expertise and basic operating costs.

The city is poised to add one million new residents; some districts have already grown by nearly 15 percent over the last census period. Community boards will be expected to make service delivery and planning decisions for this new surge of population—meaning additional siting of city facilities; more land use applications to consider; more variance applications to review; more people to inform and engage—critical work that keeps the city operating smoothly—with even less money. We urge that you enable the boards to perform their duties effectively—at the very least, by keeping their budgets intact.

Sincerely,

Eve Baron, Director

The Municipal Art Society Planning Center

On behalf of the Community-Based Planning Task Force

Cc:

Honorable Michael Bloomberg

Honorable Christine Quinn

Honorable Scott Stringer

Honorable Marty Markowitz

Honorable Adolfo Carrion, Jr.

Honorable Helen M. Marshall

Honorable James P. Molinaro

Ms. Nazli Parvizi, Commissioner, Mayor’s Community Assistance Unit

~ by STaco on March 14, 2008.