The Democratic-led Legislature, led by its increasingly powerful progressive wing, raised spending by 8.6%, the biggest jump since 2007, according to the independent Citizens Budget Commission. For 10 years under Cuomo, state budgets rose around 2% annually.

Other analysts also fear New York will become less affordable and less competitive in attracting and retaining jobs.

"Leaders agreed to raise personal income and business taxes and to use some portion of federal funds to inflate spending that likely cannot be supported in the out-years," said Andrew Rein, president of the independent Citizens Budget Commission. "The tax increases simply are unnecessary and economically risky."

Andrew Rein, president of the watchdog Citizens Budget Commission, said the city is using some of the federal aid wisely to support one-time fiscal and programmatic needs, including academic recovery, Summer Rising and the emergency food program.

Still, he added, recurring programs such as universal 3-K pre-kindergarten lack resources in the future.

“No matter how worthy the programs may be, this sets them up to fall off future budget cliffs since there are no efforts to identify efficiencies that could generate the resources to support the programs over time.”

Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, said in a press release that while there are some commendable expenditures, “the savings program is anemic, relying mostly on non-recurring savings that do nothing to increase efficiency.”

Rein praised the use of some federal aid to support one-time fiscal and programmatic needs, including academic recovery, Summer Rising and the emergency food program.

But he said another portion funds for only one year many programs that right now lack resources in the future, including the 3-K for All initiative.

“Instead, it needlessly leaves the next Mayor to solve significant fiscal problems tomorrow that this budget should have started to address today.”

Brooklyn Borough President and mayoral hopeful Eric Adams plans to take a chunk out of the nearly $1.1 billion the city uses to lease office space in Manhattan to shift operations to the outer boroughs — and use the savings to fund childcare services.

Citing 2018 numbers from the Citizens Budget Commission, Adams believes the savings that will be generated from this move would help the city as it emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Citizens Budget Commission, an independent budget watchdog, said the city should set up annual savings programs for city agencies and decrease the size of the city’s current workforce.

“The savings program is anemic, relying mostly on nonrecurring savings that do nothing to increase efficiency,” Andrew Rein, the independent watchdog’s president, said.

Before Covid-19, the city reached a new peak of more than 327,000 full-time and full-time equivalent employees. By February 2021, the head count had shrunk to more than 312,000 positions because of retirements and a hiring freeze. Citizens Budget Commission recommends the city should aim for a workforce of 310,000.

While the plan cited nearly $3.9 billions in savings through the next fiscal year, budget watchdogs said the mayor had not done enough to reduce costs across city agencies, and raised concerns about the use of federal funds to pay for new programs as opposed to using those funds to address looming budget gaps.

“Basically he uses a lot of the federal money right up front in the first two years,” said Andrew Rein, head of the Citizens Budget Commission, a nonpartisan nonprofit that scrutinizes city and state finances. Rein said budget gaps projected to exceed $4 billion were on the horizon, starting in 2023.

“You haven’t put a dent into the fiscal problems in the future so you are kind of kicking the can down the road into the back of the next mayor’s head,” he said.

But the mayor defended his choices, declaring, “You have to spend money to make money.”

Fiscal experts, as well as the state comptroller and at least one mayoral candidate — Andrew Yang — were critical of the final budget proposal of de Blasio’s tenure.

“An onslaught of funding allows the city to do many, many things,” said Andrew Rein, head of the nonprofit Citizens Budget Commission. “It is sufficient to fund essential needs, support the recovery and stabilize the city’s finances in the long run.”

Andrew Rein, president of Citizens Budget Commission, a nonprofit fiscal watchdog group, issued a cautious estimation of the executive budget, saying in a statement that it contains “some commendable components but fails to leverage the historic opportunity enabled by federal aid, State education support, and higher tax revenue to both provide essential services now and stabilize the City’s fiscal future.”

He noted that future budget gaps remain roughly the same as before, even as the budget adds new recurring expenses such as for 3K for All. “No matter how worthy the programs may be, this sets them up to fall off future budget cliffs since there are no efforts to identify efficiencies that could generate the resources to support the programs over time,” he said.

Speaking at a virtual press conference Monday afternoon, the mayor painted an optimistic portrait of the city and its road to recovery as he presented his executive spending plan. “This is a good news budget if ever there was one,” de Blasio said, adding that it allows the government to “invest in working people in the city in ways we've never been able to achieve before.” But de Blasio already received some criticism for his plan, namely his use of one-time federal dollars to fund recurring program costs. “No matter how worthy the programs may be, this sets them up to fall off future budget cliffs,” Citizens Budget Commission President Andrew Rein said in a statement. He also called the cost-savings program “anemic” as he criticized it for not relying on recurring spending cuts.

Andrew Rein, president of the watchdog Citizens Budget Commission, called for the mayor to boost reserves.

"The savings program is anemic, relying mostly on non-recurring savings that do nothing to increase efficiency," he said. "Instead, the city should be implementing a regular, reasonably sized program to eliminate the gap. The discipline of regular operational review can help prioritize programs, improve quality and identify savings."

The plan includes $25 million to boost tourism under a plan with NYC & Co., the city’s marketing wing.

Outyear gaps for fiscal 2023 through 2025 exceed $4 billion. The city by law must close them.

Bond rating agencies hit New York with multiple downgrades and warnings as the pandemic escalated. Several major issuers of late have received upward outlook revisions after the newest infusion of federal aid.

Moody’s Investors Service rates the city's general obligation bonds Aa2. Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings rate city GOs AA-minus and AA, respectively. All three assign negative outlooks.

According to data on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's EMMA website, a block of fiscal 2021 Series E general obligation bonds maturing in 2039 that originally priced at 113.514 cents on the dollar and a 2.44% yield, sold to a customer Monday at a price of 121.527 cents and a 1.777% yield.

According to Ana Champeny, the CBC's director of city studies, smart use of federal aid, efficient government services, right-sizing the workforce and building reserves are essential.

She recommended not funding new recurring programs with non-recurring revenues, and publicly providing data on the use and impact of federal funds.

Champeny also called on the city to make deposits into the rainy fund, the establishment of which voters approved in November 2019, and replenishing the Retiree Health Benefits Trust, which the city has tapped periodically to replenish its budget.

Fiscal watchdogs voiced skepticism over the rosy forecast though, especially given that most of the federal money will run out within two years. Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, said there’s no guarantee the city will have the cash to continue funding 3K for all and other programs and said the mayor should do more to bolster the city’s long-term fiscal viability.

Rein also pointed to $1 billion in “unspecified” labor savings the city is projecting in the coming years as lacking detail and not something he’d bank on actually happening.

“Despite the additional $15 billion in federal aid and billions in additional tax revenue, future budget gaps remain essentially unchanged, at roughly $5 billion annually in fiscal years 2023 to 2025,” he said. “No matter how worthy the programs may be, this sets them up to fall off future budget cliffs since there are no efforts to identify efficiencies that could generate the resources to support the programs over time.”

But critics say the mayor's savings plan is "anemic," and that he's spending too much, too fast. The watchdog group Citizens Budget Commission said the budget "fails to leverage the historic opportunity." The city's top business group said there's not enough focus on police and public safety.