Archives of the Mayor's Press Office

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: December 12 , 1996

Release #652-96

Contact: Colleen Roche (212) 788-2958 or Helene Wolff (DFTA) (212) 442-1111


MAYOR GIULIANI AND CITY COUNCIL ADD $5 MILLION
TO SENIOR CITIZEN PROGRAMS IN FY 97 BUDGET

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today announced that his administration and the City Council have agreed to add $5 million in funding to the Department for the Aging's (DFTA) FY 97 budget. The additional funds will make up for federal and state budget cuts to senior citizen programs and were agreed to as part of the City's budget modifications to the current FY 97. Under the modification, the DFTA's $161 million budget will receive another $4.5 million and an additional $585,000 that was recently cut out of a United States Department of Agriculture grant for food programs.

"Over the past three years, my administration has added $17 million in funding for the Department for the Aging to make up for the large cuts senior programs experienced during the Dinkins Administration and from federal and state program cutbacks," Mayor Giuliani said. "In keeping with my pledge that senior programs be kept whole, I am pleased to join with the City Council in adding this $5 million to the current DFTA budget so seniors continue to receive the level of services that they rely on. I want to thank Speaker Vallone and the City Council for their involvement in adding these important funds."

The Department for the Aging funds programs at 335 senior citizen centers throughout the five boroughs, providing meals and other programs for about 50,000 seniors daily. In addition, the agency provides 1.2 million hours of home care annually , and provides more than 13 million home-delivered and congregate meals a year.


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