“I don’t think the intent [of the federal funding] was to support ongoing costs — these funds were clearly one-time,” said Ana Champeny, the vice president for research at the Citizens Budget Commission, a watchdog group “The city, the City Council, and the advocacy community is going to have to address [that] and make hard choices.”

Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, praised much of Adams’ plan, but said there still is a great deal of work to be done.

“It does not mitigate the fiscal cliffs created by using federal Covid and non-recurring city funds to support ongoing services,” he said in a press release. “The city will need to decide whether to cut these programs — including rental vouchers and shelter security wages — or reduce spending on other programs to keep these going.

“Fortunately, Governor Hochul highlighted the need to stem outmigration. She wisely committed to not raising the personal income tax this year,” said Andrew Rein, president of Citizens Budget Commission, a nonprofit fiscal watchdog, in a statement. “New York’s competitiveness will be well served by restraining spending to ensure that the 2021 personal income tax increase sunsets on schedule.”

A more transparent budget process, with independent oversight and less wiggle room with spending are just some of the reforms to crafting and adopting a state budget in New York that the Citizens Budget Commission recommends. Patrick Orecki, director of state studies for the group, discusses these changes in advance of the governor unveiling her executive budget.

Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, praised much of Adams’ plan, but said there still is a great deal of work to be done.

“It does not mitigate the fiscal cliffs created by using federal Covid and non-recurring city funds to support ongoing services,” he said in a press release. “The city will need to decide whether to cut these programs — including rental vouchers and shelter security wages — or reduce spending on other programs to keep these going.

Still, an analysis of the spending plan by the non-partisan, nonprofit Citizens Budget Commission nonetheless expects the next round of labor contracts to “likely exceed the funds set aside.”

Annual raises of 3 percent would run $800 million in the first year, but would increase threefold, to $2.5 billion annually, starting in the third year, according to the analysis, done by the CBC’s vice president for research, Ana Champeny, and released the day before Adams released the spending plan.

CBC president Andrew Rein said Adams would need to hold the line on spending and “aggressively” manage and restructure government services if he wants to avoid a serious fiscal crisis.

“The gaps in the out years are huge. We’re going to hit a wall. Hitting a wall is hard,” he warned.

On municipal jobs, the Citizens Budget Commission, a fiscally hawkish group, for the most part agreed with the mayor, noting that even though he’s eliminating vacant posts, over 23,000 vacancies remain across the city government — “plenty to hire for critical positions to provide services.”

According to an analysis last March by the Citizens Budget Commission, the department came closer to projections in fiscal year 2021 by spending only slightly over budget, with $480 million in overtime payments.

Some fiscal watchdogs, however, have said that reducing the many vacancies on the books is a responsible way to realize savings without resorting to layoffs. “To be clear, the vacancy reduction still leaves the City with over 23,000 vacancies, plenty to hire for critical positions to provide services,” Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, said in a statement. “Staffing challenges are managerial (allocation among and within agencies and faulty hiring systems) and due to a tough labor market, and not budgetary.”

The Citizens Budget Commission, a fiscal watchdog group, commended the cost savings achieved by reducing some vacant positions. At the same time, Andrew Rein, its president, said, "While these are positive steps, much more aggressive action is needed to stabilize future budgets, hedge against a looming recession, and improve the quality and efficiency of services. This should not be delayed."

“The City will need to decide whether to cut these programs — including rental vouchers and shelter security wages — or reduce spending on other programs to keep these going,” Citizens Budget Commission President Andrew Rein said in a statement.