At the VIP Café on Gun Hill Road, following the annual meeting of the Jerome-Gun Hill Business Improvement District, Council Member Oliver Koppell sat at a back table, looking satisfied, having just finished a free meal and basking in the glory of what he called the “best budget in the history of New York City.”

It’s clear times are good in the Big Apple, which started this fiscal year off with a $6 billion surplus. Most of that money will go into a revenue-generating trust fund and to make down payments on future city expenditures.

But in the immediate future, it also allowed Mayor Bloomberg to institute an across-the-board 7 percent cut in property taxes and renew a $400 tax rebate for homeowners. (Koppell said he’d also like to see a $300 rebate for renters and the elimination of sales tax on shoes and clothing as well. Both proposals await approval in Albany.) Koppell attributed the budget surplus mostly to “Wall Street profits and a lively real estate market.”

While Koppell and his Council cohorts usually find themselves fighting to stave off library cuts, this year’s budget calls for city libraries to remain open a minimum of six days a week. Those who know about the annual library kabuki dance between the mayor and Council understand how important the added day of library service is.

Other highlights included increased funding for full-day pre-kindergarten, park maintenance and sanitation pickups, homeless shelters, bulletproof vests for auxiliary police and the creation of primary care clinics in the highest-need neighborhoods.

Increased city services, library access and tax cuts are one way the surplus will trickle down to Bronx communities, Koppell said. But, in addition, Koppell and other Council members are bringing back funding for various programs and organizations.

Among the local organizations that will be receiving city funding, Koppell said, are the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center, West Bronx Housing, Epiphany Lutheran Church’s St. Stephen’s Meals, the Jerome-Gun Hill Road BID and schools like PS 8 (new air conditioners) and PS/MS 280 (computers).

“We still have our problems,” the former state assemblyman, attorney general, and school board president said. “But prospects for this neighborhood are good.”