AGENCY TESTIMONY
Recommendations for improving fiscal management framework
0:15:55
·
3 min
Comptroller Lander outlines recommendations for strengthening the city's fiscal management framework, addressing various aspects of budgeting, debt management, and long-term planning.
- Supports the idea of updating the city's fiscal responsibilities through a charter revision
- Advocates for responsible debt management, including enforcing the 15% threshold of tax revenues for debt service
- Calls for a comprehensive and accurate assessment of infrastructure needs
- Recommends more accurate budgeting to reflect the city's true expenses
- Suggests implementing long-term efficiency measures as a regular process in each financial plan
- Proposes a formula-based approach to contributing to long-term reserves
- Emphasizes that stronger fiscal management is compatible with deeper investments in critical programs
Brad Lander
0:15:55
As I come to conclude, I wanna just talk a minute about a stronger fiscal framework for the city.
0:16:00
I was intrigued to see that yesterday, the mayor announced, a charter revision commission and said that it would focus in part on, updating the city's fiscal responsibilities.
0:16:13
I saw some reporting that raised questions about the motivations of the Charter Revision Commission, but I will say it is a good time to focus on stronger fiscal responsibility.
0:16:22
And so I'm gonna mention a couple here, and in the coming weeks, we'll actually lay out some ideas because if people are serious about modernizing the city's fiscal framework, which was essentially adopted at the fiscal crisis 50 years ago, this would be a great time to do it.
0:16:37
So while we should be ambitious in our capital program to make the infrastructure investments that are necessary for our long term thriving, we've gotta manage that debt responsibly.
0:16:46
The expanded debt capacity Albany passed should be accompanied, by new policies that make sure the long standing threshold of 15% of tax revenues for debt service is actually a real threshold and not, just something sort of an idea in our debt service policy, and we really need a comprehensive accurate assessment of infrastructure needs to better inform that spending.
0:17:10
My office did an audit recently of the annual AIMS report, which is supposed to tell us the state of repair of our infrastructure.
0:17:17
It does not tell us the state of good repair of our infrastructure, and it would be it's irresponsible not to have it.
0:17:24
The city's budget should also accurately reflect the city's expenses.
0:17:28
As you know, these areas of under budgeting that are perpetually in the budget make the budget just not a real true, you know, document articulating what we'll be spending.
0:17:40
That's something that should be improved.
0:17:43
Strategic investments in areas like special education services may cost money in the short run, but then would address those issues of growing Carter cases, which are now over $1,000,000,000, every year.
0:17:55
And instead of cutting core services, the city's fiscal health and lives of New Yorkers would be better served by planning and implementing long term efficiency measures as a regular process in each financial plan and not just a kind of peg randomly announced at the whim of the mayor or the budget director with a 2 week response, but at every budget plan, and with a focus on those things that will achieve long term efficiencies without detracting from services.
0:18:24
Finally, and perhaps predictably, I continue to advocate for a formula based approach to contributing to our long term reserves, which are still far from sufficient to see us through the length of an average recession.
0:18:36
My office, under the leadership of executive deputy controller Vrindisi, has offered a thoughtful approach for such a formula, and I urge the council and the administration to adopt it or something similar.
0:18:47
Stronger fiscal management is not contrary to deeper investments in the programs that create opportunities and address severe affordability challenges facing working class New Yorkers, quite the opposite.
0:18:59
Stronger fiscal management helps us to target and preserve resources to where they are most needed so that New York City can remain a place of opportunity for New Yorkers at all income levels and so that our city can grow and flourish in the years ahead.
0:19:14
Thank you very much, and I look forward to your questions.
