Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
AGENCY TESTIMONY
Federal policy risks and potential funding cuts
3:33:33
·
3 min
Comptroller Lander outlines the significant risks posed by potential federal policy changes and funding cuts to New York City's budget and services.
- He mentions the Trump administration's actions creating uncertainty in the global economy
- Hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants to the city are at risk of being terminated or rescinded
- The Congressional Budget Reconciliation Bill could potentially devastate federal aid to the city, state, and New Yorkers
- Lander proposes a $1 billion 'protecting New York City Reserve' to mitigate potential federal cuts
Brad Lander
3:33:33
None of them are reflected in this budget.
3:33:36
At a time when the mayor should be preparing New York City for a potentially more constrained fiscal reality, the May plan in many ways remains just the opposite.
3:33:45
My office remains focused on protecting New Yorkers and preparing for the challenges that may come given the great economic uncertainty and the risks with the changes at the federal level present.
3:33:56
My office has gone ahead and prepared two economic and revenue forecasts.
3:34:00
One that assumes we do not enter a recession and another that accounts for a mild recession.
3:34:05
In the no recession scenario, we project city revenues will exceed OMB's estimates by $292,000,000 this year and 108,000,000 next year in FY '26, growing to 2,950,000,000.00 in '29, applying the formula my office previously proposed to establish annual minimum deposits into the revenue stabilization fund, our rainy day fund, this scenario would mean that would mean depositing 1,460,000,000 into the rainy day fund this fiscal year.
3:34:37
In the case of a mild recession where higher tariffs persist into '26, we rest estimate tax revenues would fall by $225,000,000 in FY '25, '2 point '3 billion next year, February in '27 before rebounding in '29.
3:34:54
We would still propose, the formula would still support making a rainy day fund deposit of $1,300,000,000 this year, bringing the fund balance to 300,000,000.0 which could then be used in FY '26 and '27 if a recession transpires based on the guidelines we've proposed.
3:35:14
I'm also again calling on the city to add $1,000,000,000 to the general reserve in the FY twenty budget as a protecting New York City Reserve as we brace for potentially devastating cuts not only to direct federal funding but also to federally funded programs that keep millions of New Yorkers housed and fed.
3:35:34
These funds would be set aside and could be deployed to mitigate the worst of the likely impacts.
3:35:41
Already, the federal government has announced cuts of hundreds of millions of dollars.
3:35:45
House Republicans have approved nearly $15,000,000,000 in New York state cuts and cost shifts in health care and SNAP benefits alone.
3:35:54
Together, if implemented, all of that could easily translate to a $10,000,000,000 reduction in service for New York City residents, not only in but including and beyond the city budget.
3:36:05
I'll give one other example of just a cut that's not in my written testimony but that that reserve should be used for.
3:36:11
We already know they're eliminating 7,700 housing choice vouchers.
3:36:16
That's 7,700 families in New York City who will very likely be homeless if we don't take action.
3:36:23
And yet to my knowledge the administration hasn't reached out to those families to say what's your circumstance?
3:36:28
What will you need to avoid being homeless?
3:36:30
Or thought about whether city fats would be appropriate for some of them because if they wind up homeless then we are going to spend more on them than we would if we did thoughtful planning.
3:36:41
Those are the kinds of things that that extra billion dollars in the General Reserve would put us in a better position for.