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Report
City Budget
Real Numbers, Real Choices
Recommendations for a Clearer Fiscal View in the NYC Executive Budget
April 18, 2024
New York City’s long-run fiscal stability is precarious, and its short-term prospects are uncertain. Major causes of this uncertainty are revenue estimates that may be unreasonably conservative and spending estimates for current programs that are alarmingly understated.
Report
City Budget
Setting the Right Ceiling
Rethinking the City’s Debt Limits and Capital Process
April 03, 2024
New York City has requested that the State raise the City’s debt limit—the maximum amount of the long-term debt the City can have outstanding—by $18.5 billion.
Report
City Budget
Straight from New Yorkers
CBC Resident Survey Gives Comprehensive View of Satisfaction with Core City Services, Quality of Life
March 19, 2024
The CBC 2023 Resident Survey provides the most comprehensive, statistically valid, post-pandemic view into how New Yorkers feel about the City’s quality of life and how they rate City government services.
Report
City Budget
NYC's Already High Spending Keeps Climbing
February 22, 2024
Despite the pandemic, recession, and multiple rounds of PEGs, City-funded spending is slated to increase 22.6 percent between fiscal years 2019 and 2025.
Report
State Budget
Top of the Charts
New York and Its Localities Were #1 in Taxes and #2 in Spending
February 13, 2024
New York does not exist in a vacuum. It competes with other places, and other jurisdictions’ experiences provide an important perspective on the different choices that are being made.
Report
City Budget
Don’t Step Off the Cliff
Fiscal Cliffs and Budget Gaps in New York City’s Fiscal Year 2025 Preliminary Budget
February 08, 2024
To balance the fiscal year 2025 budget while also ensuring projected spending fully supports all planned programs, the City should implement an additional PEG in the Executive Budget and shrink or eliminate programs that the available resources cannot fully support.
Report
City Budget
Unpacking the PEG
Examining the Impact of the NYC November 2023 Financial Plan Savings
January 10, 2024
Agencies should continue to identify efficiency savings that do not affect critical program services.
Report
Public Workforce
Twenty Years Later
Integrating Services In The New York City Fire Department
December 09, 2015
The FDNY responds to more more medical emergencies than fires. The department needs a fundamental transformation.
Report
Economic Development
An Assessment of Performance Reporting by Regional Economic Development Councils
November 29, 2015
This brief assesses the performance of New York State's Regional Economic Development Councils over the past four years and offers recommendations for further improving data collected on projects and on the economic performance of the regions.
Report
Housing
Whose Burden Is It Anyway?
Housing Affordability in New York City by Household Characteristics
November 12, 2015
This report looks at New York City rent burdens in more detail, using an in-depth housing survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau to consider a variety of household characteristics.
Report
Housing
Cleaning House
How to Close the New York City Housing Authority's Operating Gaps
April 29, 2015
This report identifies the reasons for NYCHA's operating deficits in the last decade - insufficent operating subsidies, low rent collections, low nonrental income and high operating costs - and offers recommendations to increase revenues, curb expenses and improve productivity in order to eliminate NYCHA's projected $150 million deficit and improve conditions for its residents.
Report
Economic Development
Bigger Not Better
New York’s Expanding Economic Development Programs
February 18, 2015
Although some modest reforms have been made, many economic development programs have grown significantly without the improvements needed to address widely noted shortcomings.
Report
Energy & Environment
A Better Way to Pay for Solid Waste Management
February 05, 2015
This policy brief explores a new financing method for residential solid waste removal by the Department of Sanitation: a volume-based garbage fee. The four main benefits include: 1) service cost visibility, 2) waste reduction, 3) independent access to capital, and 4) fairness.
Report
Capital Spending
Capital Budgeting for 2030
Achieving the Goals of PLANYC
December 01, 2007
This report analyzes Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s PLANYC, a new long-range planning initiative for New York City's capital assets and infrastructure. The report identifies the four greatest challenges confronting this initiative and makes recommendations for overcoming them.
Report
Taxes
A Simulation of Business Taxes in New York City and Other Locations
June 02, 2007
This report focuses on state and local business taxes in New York City, showing that those taxes are dramatically higher than comparable taxes for key competitors. Combined federal, state, and local taxes reduce the rate of return on new business investment in New York City significantly – about 36-50 percent, depending on location and industry. Most of this is due to federal tax – typically 34-36 percentage points. Taxes in New York City were the highest in all industries in 2006, and were highest or second-highest under virtually all scenarios examined. By contrast, taxes in other New York locations often were lowest or nearly lowest among the locations compared.
Report
City Budget
Making the Most of Our Parks
June 01, 2007
In this report, CBC addresses six challenges that prevent New York City from making the most of its parks.
Report
Taxes
How Much Do Taxes Matter?
A Citizens Budget Commission Panel Discussion
December 11, 2006
In this background paper prepared for a panel discussion "How Much Do Taxes Matter? New York City's Tax Burden and Economic Competitiveness," which was convened by CBC on December 11, 2006, Elizabeth Roistacher, professor of economics at CUNY Queens College, summarizes the econometric literature that tries to model the relationship between tax levels and economic growth.
Report
City Budget
Managing for Results in New York City Government
A Review of Current Practices
November 30, 2006
In this report, CBC highlights two major weaknesses in the City’s management accountability framework: 1) Money and performance are not connected in the budget; and 2) The City is not focused on achieving results the public desires in every service area. To address these weaknesses, the report makes five recommendations.
Report
City Budget
Giving Taxpayers More Bang for the Buck
Managing for Results in New York City Government
November 01, 2006
In this report summary, CBC highlights two major weaknesses in the City’s management accountability framework: 1) Money and performance are not connected in the budget; and 2) The City is not focused on achieving results the public desires in every service area. To address these weaknesses, the report makes five recommendations.
Report
Pensions & Benefits
Old Assumptions, New Realities
The Truth About Wages and Retirement Benefits For Government Employees
March 31, 2006
This report summarizes a more detailed study prepared by CBC, “The Case for Redesigning Retirement Benefits for New York’s Public Employees,” released in 2005. For decades the popular image of government employment has involved the tradeoff of lower wages for job security and relatively generous retirement benefits. That image, while still widespread, is no longer the reality.