Big City, Big Spender: Mayor Giuliani Left New York City With "Enormous Deficits"

MittRomney.com issued a press release, including some of the following quotes:

"Mayor Bloomberg Vowed... He Won't Leave His Successor In City Hall With The Same Financial Mess He Inherited From Rudy Giuliani When He First Took Office." (Michael Saul, "I Won't Leave A Mess, Says Mike," [New York] Daily News, 6/2/07)

FACT: The New York City Budget Grew More Than 37% Under Mayor Giuliani:

According To The Nonpartisan Citizens Budget Commission, New York City's Budget Grew 37.6% Over The Course Of Mayor Giuliani's Two Terms. "Over the course of two terms, the Giuliani administration increased City expenditures $12 billion, or 37.6 percent, in nominal dollars." ("Rudolph W. Giuliani's Fiscal Record As Mayor Of New York City," Citizens Budget Commission, 6/5/07)

FACT: The City's Budget Gap More Than Doubled Under Mayor Giuliani:

According To The Citizens Budget Commission, Mayor Giuliani Left A Projected Budget Gap Of $3.1 Billion, More Than Twice The Size Of The Gap Left By Mayor David Dinkins. "At the time of his last adopted budget, for fiscal year 2002, Mayor Giuliani left his successor with a projected budget gap of $3.1 billion for fiscal year 2003. In comparison, at the time of Mayor Dinkins' last adopted budget, Mayor Giuliani inherited a projected budget gap of $1.3 billion for fiscal year 1995." ("Rudolph W. Giuliani's Fiscal Record As Mayor Of New York City," Citizens Budget Commission, 6/5/07)

FACT: Mayor Michael Bloomberg Inherited A City Budget Rife With Problems:

The Final Giuliani Budget, Adopted In June 2001, Depleted Surplus Funds Creating Massive Deficits In Future Years When There Would Be No Surplus Funds To Close The Gap. "The budget adopted for fiscal year 2002 in June 2001 contained one egregious fiscal policy error and one understandable misjudgment. The error was to allocate $2.5 billion of a $2.8 billion accumulated surplus, generated when revenues exceeded projections in a booming economy, to support operating expenditures during fiscal year 2002. By using the surplus to support ongoing expenses, City officials were creating a budget problem in the next year when the surplus was no longer available." ("Managing The Budget In The Bloomberg Administration," Citizens Budget Commission, 12/7/01)

FACT: Independent Experts Have Blasted Mayor Giuliani's Fiscal Management Of New York City:

In 2001, The Citizens Budget Commission Gave The Giuliani Administration A "D" For Budgeting Responsibility. "D: The City has done a poor job of addressing its long term structural fiscal imbalance, resulting in large gaps between planned spending and expected revenues in future years." (The Citizens Budget Commission, "New York City Budget Report Card - Fiscal Year 2002," 8/01)

Rudy's economic record was not great. In fact, as the truth is discovered his record looks bad. He's a prosecutor, after all. Mitt's an MBA with a knack for making and saving $.