The Mayoral Candidates on City Spending The costs of pensions and health benefits for city employees, including police officers, are rising. New York is in better financial shape than many other cities, but it faces serious fiscal challenges. During Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's 12 years in office, annual city spending has increased to $73 billion, from roughly $44 billion; the city's health care costs have nearly doubled; and its pension costs have nearly quintupled. Pool photo by Richard Drew Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, in January, unveiled the last proposed budget of his tenure. The costs of pensions and health benefits for nearly 300,000 city workers and 200,000 retired city workers who are still too young to qualify for Medicare are continuing to rise fast. For every $100,000 the city pays in salary to a police officer, it pays roughly $104,000 more toward the officer's health care and future pension benefits. Mr. Bloomberg bears some responsibility, having supported pension sweeteners approved by Albany and having handed out raises to city employees without getting concessions on pensions or health care. All of the city's major labor contracts have now expired, and the next mayor will face the task of renegotiating those contracts at a time when public employee union members are demanding retroactive raises. The New York Times asked the leading candidates in contested mayoral primaries three questions about city spending. Would the number of city employees grow or shrink under your administration? Bill de Blasio (D), like most of the candidates, did not answer the question directly, asserting that the number of city employees was "not a zero-sum game." He said that achieving his goals would "require some agencies to expand, particularly those providing early education to our kids, and some to be restructured" - presumably a euphemism for cuts. John C. Liu (D) did not answer the question directly but said he would decrease the "city's reliance on overpriced contractors." He was one of the fiercest critics of CityTime, a project intended to modernize the city's payroll system that became more costly because of fraud. Christine C. Quinn (D) did not answer the question directly but said that, while it was "impossible to predict what the city's finances will be," she would try to avoid reducing the number of teachers, police officers and firefighters. On the campaign trail, she mentions her role in preventing firehouse closings and in a 2011 budget deal that averted 4,100 teacher layoffs. (D) who did not answer the question directly, said he would focus on educating city employees in technology in order to reduce the cost of consultants. Anthony D. Weiner (D) said he would reduce waste in agencies, but did not rule out hiring more people. He suggested that he would turn desk jobs currently being performed by police officers over to civilians. John A. Catsimatidis (R) did not answer the question directly, but implied that the number of employees would either stay the same or shrink and said he would put into effect "a voluntary attrition program." He also said that "on Day 1" he would "freeze all taxes the mayor controls." Joseph J. Lhota (R) said "Shrink," adding that he would reduce the head count through attrition. He said the growth in the city's budget over the tenure of the Bloomberg administration had been harmful to the economy. How would you tackle the rising cost of health insurance premiums for city workers? Mr. de Blasio said that he would create up to 20 health clinics at city employees" work sites that would offer them and their families routine checkups, basic lab tests, prescriptions, vaccines, and chronic disease management. A 2011 paper by the Government Finance Officers Association cited research showing that such clinics can could save employers $1.60 to $4 for every dollar invested. Mr. Liu said that he would reduce premiums by offering so-called wellness incentives, in which employees would commit to measures like regular health screenings or smoking-cessation counseling. Such programs can reduce costs when tied to a reduction in employee health care contributions, but most city employees do not pay anything toward premiums, so it is unclear what would motivate them to join these programs. Ms. Quinn said she would work with city workers to explore a number of options, including rebidding the city's health insurance businessproviders, eliminating co-payments for medication for chronic diseases like asthma and diabetes to reduce emergency room visits, and creating free clinics like those that the hotel workers" union offers its members. Mr. Thompson declined to provide any specific ideas, using the oft-cited explanation that he would not "negotiate contracts in public."