“In February, I spoke about uncertainty in our economic future and announced my Administration’s first-ever mandatory savings program. We’re still in an era defined by fiscal caution, which means we’re focused on deepening our savings and making strategic investments in core priorities that continue to make New York a fairer city.”
-Mayor Bill de Blasio
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The FY20 Executive Budget is balanced, totaling $92.5 billion. This budget:
- Achieves $916 million in savings over FY19 and FY20, exceeding the City’s original target of $750 million in order to meet over $150 million in additional critical needs identified since February. Of the $916 million in savings, $629 million were achieved through the Administration’s first ever Program to Eliminate the Gap (PEG), a mandatory savings program that includes agency efficiencies, programmatic cuts and a hiring freeze. The original target for the PEG was $545 million.
- Maintains funding for more than $300 million in cuts and unfunded mandates from the State’s Executive Budget related to vital services and recently enacted State legislation.
- Covers additional critical needs to keep the City in a strong fiscal standing and makes strategic investments in vital programs that build upon continued efforts to make New York City the fairest big city in America.
Click here to view the FY20 Executive Budget.
Cuts and Unfunded Mandates from Albany:
In February, the City faced over $600 million in cuts and unfunded mandates from the State. Through the hard work of this Administration and our partners in Albany, the cuts and cost shifts to New York City in the State Executive Budget were limited to over $300 million. These cuts and unfunded mandates include:
- $125 million: financial assistance to families in need (TANF).
- $96 million: unfunded election reform mandates.
- $59 million: vital health services for vulnerable New Yorkers, including services that help combat measles.
- $25 million: education funding shortfall.
These are all funded by the City in the Executive Budget.
Citywide Savings:
In February, the Mayor set a citywide savings target of $750 million, $545 million of which would be reached with the Administration’s first ever PEG. During the budget process, the City identified additional critical needs that pushed the Administration to find additional savings. The end result was $916 million in savings, of which $629 million was the result of the PEG. This brings total savings since last June to $2.5 billion. These savings include:
- Deepening the hiring freeze by removing 1600 vacant positions ($116 million).
- More efficient methods for the purchasing of goods and services at DOE ($27 million).
- $104 million in cuts at the Department of Education, which includes the elimination of extended learning time at Renewal and Rise schools ($19M).
- Modest cuts cultural institutions, including subsidies ($6 million).
- Right-sizing classroom slots for afterschool programs ($2.5 million).
- Providing senior NYCHA residents access to Community Centers by consolidating under-used senior clubs ($900,000).
Responsible Budgeting:
The City is maintaining historic reserves. Specifically:
- The General Reserve is at $1 billion in FY20 and every year of the financial plan.
- The Capital Stabilization Reserve that was established by this Administration is at $250 million in FY20 and every year of the financial plan.
The Retiree Health Benefits Trust Fund is at $4.47 billion, $3.6 billion the result of actions taken by this Administration.
Meeting Critical Needs:
Taking into account State budget cuts, unfunded mandates, additional critical needs and potential future economic uncertainty, the Administration reached and ultimately exceed its savings goal. Savings were then used to meet additional critical needs, including:
- Special Education initiatives for DOE, including new and enhanced programs, hiring school psychologists and speech teachers to support evaluations of student needs ($33 million).
- Additional mandated Charter School Costs ($88 million).
- State cut to Pre-Trial Mental Health Evaluations ($35 million).
Making Strategic Investments:
The Administration also made strategic investments in crucial programs New Yorkers rely on, including the following in Fiscal Year 2020:
- Retrofitting City buildings to make them more energy efficient ($60 million).
- Ramping up for the 2020 Census to ensure a fair count of New York City residents, which will secure fair representation in Congress and the City’s fair share of federal funding ($22 million).
- Improving EMS response times by expanding the “Fly Car” program in the Bronx ($15 million).
- Baselining funding for Bridging the Gap to provide support for students in shelters ($12 million).
- Emergency repairs at NYCHA community centers to refurbish pipes, air conditioning and heating infrastructure ($6 million).
10-Year Capital Strategy:
The City’s 10-Year Capital Strategy is $116.9 billion and includes:
- Expanding school capacity and enhance facilities ($16.4 billion).
- Repairing and implementing safety improvements to roads and bridges ($13.1 billion).
- Building and preserving affordable housing ($9.7 billion).
- Building smaller, safer, borough-based jails ($8.7 billion).
- Maintaining clear water ($6.5 billion).
