Gov. David Paterson and legislative leaders have finalized a balanced state budget that increases spending by 9 percent and includes roughly $7 billion in higher taxes.
State legislators are expected to vote on the budget this week. The state’s next fiscal year starts April 1.
The $131.8 billion budget, printed over the weekend, erases an estimated $17.7 billion deficit, the largest in state history. It includes a record-high $6.5 billion in spending cuts, including record reductions in health care spending and an overhaul of the state’s Empire Zone tax credit program.
The budget also:
• will lead to higher utility bills for businesses by adding more than $600 million in higher taxes on electric, gas, water and telephone companies
• maintains Paterson’s proposal to cut 8,900 state jobs this summer, saving $481 million in salary and health care expenses
• raises taxes on for-profit health maintenance organizations by $107 million
• cancels planned reimbursement rate adjustments for hospitals and nursing homes that would have accounted for inflation, totaling $230 million
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