Budget Analyst: Bloomberg Draining His 'Rainy-Day Fund'

The head of the Citizens Budget Commission, Carol Kellerman, draws a comparison between Michael Bloomberg's use of $2 billion set aside to pay for future health-care costs and draining a trust fund.

“He’s using it in the short term," she said of the fund, which is officially referred to as the budget stabilization account. "And no, I don’t think that’s what the money was set aside for."

Yesterday, city Budget Director Mark Page, under questioning from City Councilman John Liu, acknowledged the city planned to use the money in the budget stabilization to plug the city’s current budget gap.

The mayor’s argument, Kellerman said, is “basically, ‘It’s a rainy day, I need it.’" She went on, "It’s not the spirit in which it was intended, nor is it the basis for the accolades he’s gotten for doing this.”

Kellerman said although it's not surprising, this isn’t how the mayor initially said he’d use the money, and that might not reflect well on him.

‘He’s going to use up his trust fund,” said Kellerman.