Dear Mayor Adams and Speaker Adams:

The decisions you make adopting the fiscal year 2025 budget will not only affect the City’s activities in the upcoming year, but will set the stage for the City’s ongoing fiscal stability and capacity to provide needed services and weather future crises.  

Underbudgeting has increased to an unprecedented level—with Executive proposals that do not fully fund current programs and the Council’s acceptance of the practice and advocating for the addition of programs that would be unaffordable if fully funded on an ongoing basis. The integrity of the budget’s estimates, the public’s belief that budget issues are real, and the fiscal stability of the City are all at risk. Your leadership can change that. 

The Citizens Budget Commission urges you to adopt a fiscal year 2025 budget that: 

• Is Transparent and Accurate—that Fully Funds Planned Services and Identifies Those that Will Shrink. To foster a fact-based debate and prioritization of programs, the budget should be transparent and accurately reflect the costs of planned programs and additional expenses that are currently underbudgeted, such as overtime. The budget will then more accurately reflect the size of future gaps, rather than artificially reducing gaps by underbudgeting. If the City chooses not to fully fund a program, it should be clear that it will be trimmed or cut;

• Ensures that Spending Added during Budget Adoption Is Offset by Savings Elsewhere. To ensure added spending is sustainable, it should be budgeted on a recurring basis and offset with recurring reductions from efficiencies or shrinking of lower impact or underutilized programs; and 

• Includes a Deposit of at Least $1 Billion into the Rainy Day Fund over This and Next Year. To protect New Yorkers during a recession or a severe one-time emergency, the City should deposit at least $500 million in the Rainy Day Fund in fiscal year 2024, budget to deposit at least $553 million in fiscal year 2025, and deposit more if revenues are higher than projected in the Executive Budget. The Rainy Day Fund now has less than $2 billion, when the average recession would sap revenues by $11 billion over two years. Now is the time—when revenues are strong—to build up reserves to protect New Yorkers.

We urge you to balance the needs of current and future New Yorkers and improve the integrity of the budget.  

Sincerely,

Andrew Rein
President, Citizens Budget Commission