New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said his administration wouldn’t send $400 property-tax rebate checks due this month to owners of apartments and houses because the slowing economy threatens to worsen a widening budget gap.

Bloomberg first announced his intention to halt the checks, which have gone out since 2004, during a budget modification presentation earlier this month. City Council members objected to the plan, noting it would be unlawful unless they voted to approve it.

“We have no money. This isn’t a legal issue; this is a fiscal issue,” Bloomberg said at a Brooklyn news conference today. “Obviously, we’re not going to send out checks, and we’ll have to find a way to balance the budget.”

The mayor said he may need to raise taxes and cut spending to close a budget gap he expects to balloon to $4 billion or more in the next 18 months.

The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.

Source: Bloomberg