Thank you very much, Joe… I should have said four billion!
The escalating migrant problem under the Biden administration could cost New York City taxpayers $4.2 billion by the middle of next year, more than tripling Mayor Eric Adams’ latest worst-case forecast.
The startling amounts to be spent through June 30, 2024, the end of fiscal year 2024, are addressed in a memo obtained by The Post on Tuesday from City Hall.
In it, the Office of Management and Budget stated that Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to provide $1 billion in migrant aid to the city over two years would cover less than 30% of shelter expenditures.
The OMB also cautioned that the record $227 billion budget plan Hochul released last week would reduce state contributions to the city by $461 million in fiscal year 2024 and by $1.34 billion in fiscal year 2025.
According to the OMB document, Hochul’s proposed budget “poses challenges for the city if enacted as written, especially since the city’s financial position has already been strained by the Migrant Crisis.”
In October, when he proclaimed a state of emergency, President Trump estimated the cost of the migrant crisis to be $1 billion. Last month, he revised that estimate to “anywhere between $1.5 and $2 billion.”
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli criticized Mayor Adam for failing to account for “the anticipated recurring costs” because the mayor’s record-setting budget request for fiscal year 2024 did not contain any particular spending on the migrant problem.
According to the OMB paper, which was originally reported by Politico, Hochul’s vow to offer $373 million in migrant aid for fiscal 2023 and another $623 million in fiscal 2024 would cover only 29% of the city’s housing expenditures.
These numbers indicate that the total cost of the immigration problem will be close to $3.5 billion.
However, City Hall announced on Tuesday that Adams’ administration intends to spend a total of $4.2 billion on immigration in fiscal years 2023 and 2024.
Under Hochul’s proposal, the expense of the migrant issue would be borne evenly between the city, the state, and the federal government, which has thus far allocated less than $8 million of the $1 billion Adams is requesting from the administration of President Biden.
On Sunday, The Post discovered exclusively that the city has been paying for migrants’ bus tickets to Plattsburgh, New York, from where they illegally enter Canada through cabs and trucks.
Several migrants informed The Post that they were leaving New York in search of better employment possibilities and a higher quality of life in the Great White North.
Since the spring, more than 44,700 migrants have poured into the city, with more than 28,800 residing in 88 emergency shelters, according to the most recent government estimates.
»Biden immigration problem to cost NYC $4.2B, twice Eric Adams’ estimate«