“There are probably a lot of impediments, but the biggest is political will,” said Sean Campion, senior research associate at the Citizens Budget Commission. His organization launched its own study on New York City’s land use review process earlier this year, just before a proposal to rezone Industry City was killed by local opposition.

But tellingly, New York is also raiding some $4 billion in reserve funds to close the gap. About $1 billion of that money comes from the city’s surpluses, but another $2.6 billion is drawn from its retiree health-benefits fund. New York has made a practice over the years of tapping that fund to close budget gaps during recessions—one reason that it confronts a giant future liability to pay for unfunded health benefits. The city has realized few savings through better or more efficient operations. The Citizens Budget Commission noted that as little as one-fifth of the deficit-closing plan achieves such reductions.

Citizens Budget Commission Director of City Studies Ana Champeny said the city’s expectation is that payments in the new year won't drop off significantly and that July 1 payments were encouraging. Still, she said, a looming potential decrease in valuations — and how badly the city’s real estate values are hit — is a concern for the city long-term.



“While there may be some decrease in collections and an increase in delinquency rate, the major problem, generally, is commercial real estate values going forward," she said. "You could have a drag on property tax revenue for a few years."



She noted that the city has built in a cushion to prepare for any non-payments, but Jan. 1 tax payments could be worse than July 1, as many businesses are no longer benefiting from the Paycheck Protection Program and people out of work are no longer receiving federal unemployment.

If the governor doesn’t have a back-up plan, now might be a good time to develop one.

“History tells us even when there is a large federal aid package it does not solve for the whole fiscal problem,” Maria Doulis, vice president of the nonpartisan Citizens Budget Commission, told USA Today’s New York State Team.

The rally came a day after the New York Citizens Budget Commission, a policy nonprofit, said New York leaders should reject proposals to revive the stock transfer tax. The group argued that if it were reinstated, New York would become the only state to impose such a tax, making it a less attractive place to do business. The tax would have unintended consequences, may provide incentives for the securities industry to divest from New York and hurt the state's economy and financial plan, said David J. Friedfel, director of state studies with the Citizens Budget Commission.



"We believe that reinstating the stock transfer tax is unlikely to produce the revenues advocates project," Friedfel said.

According to financial experts, spending cuts in specific areas would help prevent the layoffs of city employees. Ana Champeny, the director of city studies at the Citizens Budget Commission, wrote a report that outlined the difficult financial decisions the city will face in the next year to mitigate the damage caused by the pandemic, including slowly reducing staff levels, cutting spending and increasing efficiency.



“Our belief is that it is possible for the city to handle headcount through attrition,” Champeny said. “So even if you’re hiring one out of every two positions that leave, you should see your headcount reduced over time, and in that case you don’t have to do layoffs.”

Simply stated, the stock transfer tax is a sales tax on stock purchases. It’s one of a slew of tax increases that labor unions, advocacy groups, and educators are pushing for as New York state faces an unwieldy budget deficit.

The rally came a day after the New York Citizens Budget Commission, a policy nonprofit, said New York leaders should reject proposals to revive the stock transfer tax. The group argued that if it were reinstated, New York would become the only state to impose such a tax, making it a less attractive place to do business. The tax would have unintended consequences, may provide incentives for the securities industry to divest from New York and hurt the state's economy and financial plan, said David J. Friedfel, director of state studies with the Citizens Budget Commission.

"We believe that reinstating the stock transfer tax is unlikely to produce the revenues advocates project," Friedfel said.

According to financial experts, spending cuts in specific areas would help prevent the layoffs of city employees. Ana Champeny, the director of city studies at the Citizens Budget Commission, wrote a report that outlined the difficult financial decisions the city will face in the next year to mitigate the damage caused by the pandemic, including slowly reducing staff levels, cutting spending and increasing efficiency.

“Our belief is that it is possible for the city to handle headcount through attrition,” Champeny said. “So even if you’re hiring one out of every two positions that leave, you should see your headcount reduced over time, and in that case you don’t have to do layoffs.”

The fiscal watchdogs at the Citizens Budget Commission agree the capital program should be revived — but only after a review of which projects should get the highest priority and what the city can afford.

“Disinvestment in infrastructure is a mistake of past fiscal crises the city should not repeat,” said Maria Doulis, CBC’s deputy director. “The city should rescope its capital program to ensure critical projects to improve and maintain the core infrastructure New Yorkers rely on can proceed within a plan that is affordable and can be effectively implemented.”

Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) employee overtime and pension abuse has been going on for years. It has been repeatedly documented internally by the MTA, Office of MTA Inspector General, New York State Comptroller, NYC Citizens Budget Commission, New York Empire Center for Public Policy audits and reports along with numerous newspaper stories. Gov. Cuomo and his appointed MTA Chairman Patrick Foye, MTA Finance Committee Chairperson Larry Schwartz and other MTA Board members one year ago expressed outrage at the time that this was going on. They reminded me of Captain Renault from "Casablanca" who said "I'm shocked...shocked to find that gambling is going on" while at the same time collecting his winnings. Where is the outrage one year later when these issues still have not been fully resolved?

Policymakers and leading business executives gather to discuss the state of New York after a tumultuous presidential election. We’ll break down what you need to know ahead of 2021. This is an opportunity for some of the city’s best minds to come together to discuss what lies ahead for businesses in New York City.
Panelists:
• Melva M. Miller, Chief Executive Officer, Association for a Better New York (ABNY)
• James A. Parrott, Director of Economic and Fiscal Policies, Center for New York City Affairs at The New School
• Andrew S. Rein, President, Citizens Budget Commission