" Good morning this is mayor Mike Bloomberg. Today most New Yorkers are looking at their household budgets to find ways to cut expenses. Increase income and make ends meet in this typical economy. At City Hall were doing that to last week we released the city's preliminary budget. For the fiscal year that begins July 1 it addresses the hard challenge of closing up four billion dollar gap. Between our expenses and the money will happen to pay for them. At the outset let me say that we're working hard to help New Yorkers -- this recession to stay in their homes keeping a small businesses open. Find new jobs feed their families and stabilize their finances. Also got a duty to keep the city's own finances on firm ground. And with the economy stalling and tax revenues falling -- necessarily involves making some hard choices. Asian minority rhetoric heard that could include raising the city's sales tax something I hope we don't have to do but something that may prove necessary. Then there's the city spending which falls into two categories. Burst that's what we call controllable expenses. Those we actually have some discretion over. It might surprise you learn the pick up for less than -- the city's funds in the budget. We're holding the spending -- from the current budget year to the next by using existing resources to meet the needs of our growing city. It will be cutbacks in programs and agency work forces we've taken great pains to ensure that in the process. We won't weaken your city's great quality of life. The city's non controllable expenses. Includes such items as -- ever growing pension and health benefit obligations. What we pay in Medicaid costs and also a cost of borrowing money for essential long term improvements such as building new schools and paving streets and highways. In order to balance next year's budget. We'll also have to reduce non controllable expenses which means. Will need help from our partners in the state and federal governments and also from the municipal labor unions. For example the time has come for state leaders to make some common sense reforms pensions for future city employees. -- current pension system was designed in an earlier age where life expectancy was much shorter than it is now. The result is that today we're paying full pensions to retirees. -- some cases are still in the prime of their lives that's money that we could stated used to hire police -- extent library hours. Or paper or other services. It's also only reasonable to have city employees to start paying part of the cost of their health care insurance something private sector workers have long done. When the economy was strong we negotiated contracts with city workers that shared the extra revenue. Now that revenues are shrinking the unions have to be part of the solution. Nothing would please me more than avoiding some of the choices included in this budget but in the current economy the only wise course is to prepare for the worst. And while the city's economy may take some time to recover and also completely confident that New Yorkers will pull through these hard times together. Just as we have. So many times before. This is man Mike Bloomberg -- Celeste."