Mayor Lacks Power to Block $400 Rebates

Mayor Lacks Power to Block $400 Rebates

By DAVID W. CHEN

Remember two weeks ago when Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced he was shelving the $400 homeowners’ rebate checks because the city could not afford them?

Look for yours in the mail.

It turns out the mayor does not have the power to halt the rebates, the city’s top budget official grudgingly admitted on Monday, under questioning from the City Council.

Any elimination of the popular rebates requires City Council approval, budget director Mark Page acknowledged. And council members, who have been flooded with calls from angry residents looking for their checks, declared the mayor’s idea to cut them “dead on arrival.”

The revelation represented an unusual embarrassment for an administration that prides itself on precision and efficiency, especially coming weeks after Mr. Bloomberg based his successful campaign for an extension of term limits on his fiscal résumé. On Nov. 5, when he announced he was shelving the rebates, the mayor said that the move would save the city $256 million as it grapples with an economic downturn. CLICK FOR MORE [NYT]