Reframing the tax debate with federal funding allows Mr. Cuomo to channel the ire of groups seeking more government spending from Albany to Washington. He can also disclaim responsibility if taxes eventually do rise.

Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, a nonpartisan watchdog, said Mr. Cuomo could have plugged his budget hole without increasing taxes by, for example, reducing economic-development spending and trimming state aid to wealthy school districts.

Watchdogs Citizens Budget Commission and Reinvent Albany are calling the state to improve its own lot and with more transparency, while the ranking member of the state Senate finance committee, Thomas O'Mara, called the governor's speech "bizarre and frustrating."

Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, a nonpartisan watchdog, said these actions wouldn't necessarily become recurring savings. Mr. Rein estimates the coming fiscal year's deficit will be around $10 billion. He started by adding this year's $8 billion placeholder and the official $8.7 billion projection deficit projection for next year, and then worked down.

"The state hopes to receive $15 billion in federal aid, which would wipe out its near-term deficits, obviating proposals to increase taxes or reduce spending. While that would be beneficial in the short run, it still would leave the state with significant future gaps," Andrew Rein, the head of the Citizens Budget Commission, said in a statement. "No matter the level of federal aid, the State should be pursuing structural spending reforms to ensure that its finances are stable coming out of the recession.”

Andrew Rein, president of the nonpartisan fiscal watchdog Citizens Budget Commission, said it is reasonable for the MTA to delay fare increases by a few months because of riders’ economic hardship during the depths of the pandemic.

But he added that biennial fare increases are a smart way for the MTA to balance its budget and that the delay shouldn’t last longer than necessary.

“As the economy revives we need to ensure there is regular fare and toll increases no matter what federal aid comes,” Mr. Rein said.

“No matter the level of federal aid, the state should be pursuing structural spending reforms to ensure that its finances are stable coming out of the recession,” said Andrew Rein, the president of the Citizens Budget Commission, a fiscally conservative watchdog.

Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, had serious reservations in a statement issued Thursday.



“Unfortunately, nearly one year into the fiscal crisis, the City still has not substantially embarked on the significant restructuring and spending restraint needed to stabilize its long-run finances,” Rein said.



He said city-funded spending will increase 3.2 percent between fiscal year 2021 and fiscal year 2022. He said de Blasio’s program to eliminate the gap, or PEG, within agencies is insufficient.



“[I]t is too small and appears to disproportionately target program reductions, instead of improving productivity or modifying employee benefits, both of which would minimize pain to New Yorkers at large,” he said. “Furthermore, the plan lacks sufficient recurring savings to reduce future budget gaps meaningfully.”

Business shutdowns and other measures to confront the coronavirus have gutted the city’s revenue streams. The city sustained a $10.5 billion drop in its tax revenue over fiscal 2020-2022, including a $1.5 billion decline since November in this fiscal year and the next.

“Achieving fiscal stability will be essential for building a strong foundation for economic recovery,” said Andrew Rein, president of the watchdog Citizens Budget Commission.

“Unfortunately, nearly one year into the fiscal crisis, the city still has not substantially embarked on the significant restructuring and spending restraint needed to stabilize its long-run finances.”

In a statement immediately following the mayor's remarks, Andrew Rein, of the Citizens Budget Commission, urged the city to make more dramatic cuts, in the form of changes to employee benefits as well as headcount reductions.



"Unfortunately, nearly one year into the fiscal crisis, the City still has not substantially embarked on the significant restructuring and spending restraint needed to stabilize its long-run finances," he said.

Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens’ Budget Commission, described the projected decline in property taxes as “historic,” saying it “strongly signals the long-term risks and hard road to recovery faced by key sectors and industries.”



“Unfortunately, nearly one year into the fiscal crisis, the city still has not substantially embarked on the significant restructuring and spending restraint needed to stabilize its long-run finances,” he said. “City-funded spending will increase 3.2% between fiscal year 2021 and fiscal year 2022.”

“Unfortunately, nearly one year into the fiscal crisis, the City still has not substantially embarked on the significant restructuring and spending restraint needed to stablize its long-run finances,” said the head of the Citizens Budget Commission, Andrew Rein, after de Blasio’s presentation.



Hizzoner’s savings program, he added, is “too small and appears to disproportionately target program reductions instead of improving productivity or modifying employee benefits, both of which would minimize pain to New Yorkers at large.”



The CBC has been campaigning for City Hall to press labor unions for concessions on health care coverage — including requiring co-pays — and to consolidate the dozens of fringe benefit programs across municipal government as one way to yield savings. It estimates that productivity improvements and the benefit trims could generate $1 billion in savings annually.

De Blasio’s preliminary budget shows the devastating impact that the pandemic continues to have on the city’s residents and economy, said Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, a business-backed fiscal watchdog.



“The projected precipitous decline in property taxes is historic,” Rein said. “ It demonstrates the current challenges faced by residents and businesses, and strongly signals the long-term risks and hard road to recovery faced by key sectors and industries.”


The city hasn’t cut enough spending to stabilize its finances such as cutting employee benefits or improving productivity, Rein said.