As reported by the NY Post, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s budget is counting on $1 billion in recurring savings from the Big Apple’s labor unions — but these concessions have not yet been agreed to. The Citizens Budget Commission (CBC) said that the city hasn’t even publicly presented a plan with which to reach this goal. “I look at this as a fake part of the budget. This $1 billion in labor savings is a fiction until they come up with a plan,” said Andrew Rein, head of the budget watchdog group. “Fictional savings in the budget is masking the depth of the problem.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio has listed the $1 billion in savings, which is not yet a reality, to keep the city’s explosive budget deficits in check, not just this year but for the next four years. For 2022, the labor savings keeps the $92.3 billion budget from dipping into the red, says the CBC. If the labor cuts don’t materialize, in 2023, City Hall’s deficit will expand to $5.3 billion, instead of the $4.3 billion currently projected. Without the $1 Billion gimmick, the budget for 2024 and 2025 similarly jump, and those budget gaps may surpass $5 billion, as per CBC’s analysis.