Bloomberg Threatens Layoffs Over Taxi Medallions

The Daily News reports that Mayor Bloomberg is back to threatening to layoffs again:

Mayor Bloomberg followed through on a threat Friday to slash city agencies — and possibly lay off city workers — in part to make up for revenue the city will lose if Bloomberg can’t move forward with his outerborough taxi plan.

The mayor’s budget director, Mark Page, sent a letter to agency heads Friday asking them to come up with ways to gut their budgets by as much as 5.4% in the current fiscal year — and 8% next year.

Cuts that large are bound to include at least some layoffs, though it’s not clear which agencies will lose staff.

A judge struck down the outerborough taxi plan last month, blowing a billion-dollar hole in the city budget.

Though police and schools are often spared the brunt of budget cuts, Bloomberg ordered cost savings even from those essential agencies.

The police, fire, sanitation and corrections departments must submit plans to cut 2.7% of their budgets this year and 4% next year.

The Education Department was asked to slash its budget by 1.6% this fiscal year and 4% next year.

“We will once again need to curtail planned spending and do so in a way that prioritizes and preserves necessary city services and quality of life,” Page wrote in the letter.

This will be the 12th round of cuts Bloomberg has instituted since 2007.

And as usual, the outside consultants are spared.