Search
Showing 1 - 20 of 31
Blog
Transportation
The MTA’s Preliminary 2017 Budget: Good News Now, But Risks Down the Track
September 27, 2016
Reviews the MTA's preliminary 2017 budget and points to risks, including expiring labor contracts and looming OPEB liabilities.
Blog
Economic Development
Should New York's REDCs REDO Their Plans?
December 06, 2016
After 5 years, CBC reviews regional job creation results by industry, and the lackluster results suggest it is time to rethink the strategic plans of the REDCs.
Blog
City Budget
An Insufficient Savings Plan
February 24, 2016
Mayor Bill de Blasio's FY2017 budget proposal increased city-funded spending by $2.7 billion and included a Citywide Savings Program, or CSP, it was small relative to the size of the budget and savings programs of past years and insufficient to meaningfully offset the cost of new initiatives or to boost reserves.
Blog
State Budget
The Rational Funding Plan for SUNY and CUNY Should Be Extended
March 21, 2016
Why reauthorizing a rational funding plan for the State University of New York (SUNY) and the City University of New York (CUNY) to raise tuition makes sense.
Blog
Transportation
Recent Confusion over the MTA’s Financial Condition and What to Do About It
October 10, 2013
CBC offers its perspective on the New York Times’ “Room for Debate” question, “Is there any hope for NYC Transit?”
Blog
City Budget
What to Look for in the Mayor’s Executive Budget for Fiscal Year 2017
April 24, 2016
Asks 8 questions about the New York City Executive Budget for Fiscal Year 2017 relating to revenues, spending, Health + Hospitals, reserves, the Citywide Savings Plan, the State budget, and the capital commitment plan.
Blog
Capital Spending
How Much, and for What?
May 21, 2013
Reviews the $54 billion Ten-Year Capital Strategy; the next mayor will have to make difficult trade-offs between competing priorities while ensuring the city’s debt does not become unaffordable.
Testimony
Housing
Testimony on the New York City Housing Authority and the City’s Preliminary Fiscal Year 2025 Budget
New York City Council Committee on Public Housing
March 12, 2024
Many critical steps should be taken quickly to stabilize NYCHA’s budget and improve physical conditions.
Blog
State Budget
The Back-loaded Impact of New York’s Fiscal Year 2013-14 Budget
May 08, 2013
Reviews NYS Enacted Budget for FY2014- $1.8 billion in annual spending by the final year of the financial plan were paid for with tax increases, non-recurring resources, and boosted revenue forecasts.
Blog
State Budget
What to Look for in New York State’s Fiscal Year 2025 Executive Budget
January 11, 2024
With Governor Kathy Hochul having delivered her State of the State address and the Legislature convened, attention in Albany now turns to the Fiscal Year 2025 Executive Budget—due in just a few days.
Blog
City Budget
The Citywide Savings Program: Bolder Steps Needed to Make Government More Efficient
May 24, 2016
Mayor Bill de Blasio's latest Citywide Savings Program proposes multiyear savings of $5.4 billion compared to just $2.9 billion proposed in last year’s Executive Budget. The $5.4 billion represents 1.7 percent of city-funded spending over the financial plan period; this is in the range of savings in Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plans for each of the last four years of his administration. While this may seem like a bold stride, the new CSP still falls short in the nature of its savings proposals.
Blog
State Budget
6 Things to Look for in New York State’s Mid-Year Budget Update
October 30, 2016
What are the important things to look out for in The Mid-Year Update to the FY 2017 Financial Plan? Coveres revenue projections, economic development, collective bargaining, medicaid, minimum wage, and budget gaps.
Blog
Housing
Agency Focus: NYC Housing Preservation and Development
July 18, 2016
The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development is the nation's largest municipal housing agency, and is charged with implementing the largest housing plan in the city's history. How's it doing?
Testimony
Transportation
Public Comment on the Proposed Structure For the Central Business District Tolling Program
Submitted to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority
February 29, 2024
While the Citizens Budget Commission (CBC) has long held the position that there should not be credits for bridge or tunnel crossings, we believe the Traffic Mobility Review Board’s (TMRB) congestion pricing toll recommendations, as a whole, are reasonable.
Blog
Pensions & Benefits
2016 Benefit Sweetener Scorecard
May 02, 2016
The Citizens Budget Commission’s 2016 Benefit Sweetener Scorecard identifies more than 60 such bills active this session. These bills could cost the State and local governments hundreds of millions of dollars per year, and since about half the bills do not specify a fiscal impact, the potential costs could be significantly greater.
Blog
State Budget
Heading the Wrong Way on the Thruway
March 23, 2016
Governor Andrew Cuomo proposal to provide nearly $2.3 billion of State funds from bank settlements to subsidize the New York State Thruway Authority would reverse a long-standing practice of funding the Authority from toll revenue and would put New York taxpayers on a course for financing road and bridge infrastructure that makes little economic or fiscal sense.
Blog
Capital Spending
Design-Build Contracting
A Way to Fix More Bridges for Less Money
February 17, 2016
State legislators should enable New York City to benefit from design-build contracting: if it realized savings on par with the State’s experience, the City could save $2 billion over 10 years.
Blog
State Budget
Little Noticed but Significant: The Sound Recommendations of the SAGE Commission
April 15, 2013
Reviews the worthwhile recommendations of the Spending and Government Efficiency Commission, or “SAGE” Commission.
Testimony
City Budget
Testimony on NYC Fiscal Year 2025 Preliminary Budget
Submitted to the New York City Council Finance Committee
March 04, 2024
CBC’s analysis finds that the Preliminary Budget presents balanced budgets for fiscal years 2024 and 2025 as required by law; however, proposed spending in fiscal year 2025 is short by $3.6 billion needed to continue the current level of services.
Blog
Capital Spending
Agency Focus: DASNY
Budget Analysis
August 01, 2016
The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) manages construction of buildings and provides low-cost financing for public and nonprofit institutions.