Staten Islanders would pay more money for fewer services if the borough seceded from the rest of New York city, according to a recent study by the Independent Budget Office.
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The Independent Budget Office recently took a look into what it would cost for Staten Island to secede from the rest of the city and found it would result in Staten Islanders paying more for fewer services than they currently receive.
Staten Island would run a deficit between $171 million and $199 million if they broke away from the rest of the five boroughs, states a May 2 IBO report. The review included a deep dive into previous studies from another secession attempt in the 1990s, which weighed both fiscal and operational impacts of the potential separation.
The in-depth analysis, performed at the request of southern Brooklyn Council Member Justin Brannan, found just how complex a secession would be — and that it would likely result in years of litigation. Residents would have to either raise the area’s overall revenue, reduce benefits and services, or perform an unfortunate combination of both.
“The calls for Staten Island secession are adorable but ill-advised,” Brannan said in a statement. “It would absolutely positively make things worse for hardworking Staten Islanders.”
It’s not the first time the “forgotten borough” has tried to cut itself off from the rest of the city. According to IBO research, the area originally tried to secede in the 1940s when then-leaders proposed a new garbage dump in Fresh Kills.
In 1990, residents once again pushed for a split. A vote to secede sparked the creation of a State Charter Commission for Staten Island, which drafted official documents in favor of an independent Staten Island. The charter also studied the potential implications of this decision.
Sarita Subramanian, senior research and strategy officer at the IBO, noted their review of this data excluded operational…
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