By Mara Gay 

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to roll out his executive budget on Wednesday, an $84.86 billion proposal that comes at a time when city officials are bracing for potential cuts from the Trump administration.

Mr. de Blasio's budget would increase spending by more than $2.7 billion from this year's adopted budget of $82.12 billion. The proposal also includes hundreds of millions in reserves meant to boost the city's position amid unease about possible cuts in funding from Washington, D.C.

"In the face of continued uncertainty, it is more important than ever that cities make smart, targeted investments aimed at improving people's lives," Mr. de Blasio said in a statement Wednesday. "We cannot respond to threats of funding cuts by pulling on back our own investments or values. Instead, we must continue to make this city a place where everyone can have a chance to succeed."

The executive budget proposal is for fiscal year 2018, which begins July 1, and must be approved by the City Council.

Even after it is adopted, the city's budget generally is readjusted several times throughout the year. This year's budget has ballooned to $85.5 billion from $82.12 billion when it was adopted last June, for example -- an increase of nearly $3.4 billion.

The plan Mr. de Blasio is set to unveil Wednesday afternoon is nearly $200 million higher than the preliminary budget he proposed in January.

City officials said the increase largely is driven by federal funding. It also includes initiatives the mayor recently has proposed such as a $36 million plan to expand the city's free prekindergarten program.

The city's budget has steadily grown during Mr. de Blasio's first term. It is up about $15 billion from almost $70 billion in fiscal year 2014, the last year it was negotiated under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, has used revenues from a strong economy to invest heavily in programs to fight homelessness and poverty. He also has increased the size of the city's workforce. The number of full-time and full-time equivalent city employees reached 313,092 last year, up about 16,000 from 297,349 under Mr. Bloomberg.

The mayor's proposal must be approved by the City Council by June 30.

Write to Mara Gay at mara.gay@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 26, 2017 15:05 ET (19:05 GMT)

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