Council Finance Chair Dromm: Updated Budget includes major wins for NYC

CITY HALL, NEW YORK : – December 19 NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson and NYC Council Finance Chair Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights, Elmhurst) announced important updates to the City budget.

The City’s Fiscal 2020-23 Financial Plan Update (referred to as “the Plan” or “the November Plan”) was released on November 22nd, 2019.  The Council voted to approve it today.  It increases the Fiscal 2020 Budget to $94.39 billion and reduces the Fiscal 2021 gap by $506 million to $3.02 billion. 

For Fiscal 2020, the Plan recognizes modest growth of $482 million in tax revenues and projects an additional $974 million in non-City revenues, when compared to the Adopted Plan of June 2019. Spending changes for Fiscal 2020 include investments in just a handful of new programs that total $311 million, adjustments that match newly recognized non-City revenues, and personal service adjustments that draw upon the Labor Reserve to fund collective bargaining settlements. Changes affecting headcount leave the City’s total budgeted headcount for Fiscal 2020 at 334,581 positions, 1,148 more than what was budgeted at adoption. Finally, a Citywide Savings Program update introduces a four-year total savings of $844 million.

“This budget update contains many important wins for NYC residents,” said Dromm. “From enhancing early childhood education to taking the steps necessary to finally close Rikers Island, there is so much to be proud of in this modification.  It has been a pleasure to work with Speaker Johnson and the administration on this important undertaking.  I am proud of the fact that our budget priorities are aligned with our values.”

Several important wins that are reflected in this budget modification include:

– $54 million dollars for Indirect Rate Increases for Human Services Contracts, so that the City’s non-profit partners can better afford to provide the vital services on which our constituents rely every day;

– Pay parity for critical public sector workers, including $29 million dollars for Early Childhood Education Providers and $7.4 million dollars for Legal Service Providers, so that these workers are paid fairly.

The expense budget modification also reflects important shifts in criminal justice funding to further the goal of closing the Rikers Island jail complex and to implement the State-enacted bail reforms:

– $74.8 million dollars for new headcount to support discover reform;

– $16.6 million dollars for expanded supervised release capacity to support bail reform; and

– $22 million dollars in savings from the Department of Correction by the closure of the Brooklyn House of Detention and the Eric M. Taylor Detention Center.

The revenue budget modification recognizes $648 million dollars in new revenues in Fiscal 2020, and authorizes the appropriation of that new revenue and an adjustment to the General Reserve, to increase the Budget Stabilization Account by $549.5 million dollars to prepay debt service for Fiscal 2021.

Dromm continued, “It has been a pleasure to work with Speaker Johnson on the November Plan, which builds upon the progress of previous fiscal years. These historic investments in criminal justice reform, early childhood education, legal services for low income New Yorkers and the good work of our non-profit partners demonstrates the Council’s commitment to serving all of NYC’s diverse communities.” Press Release.