REPORT: IBO remains cautiously confident about NYC’s fiscal outlook. Read our latest economic forecast and projections of revenue and spending through 2023.
Nearly 3 dozen arts and cultural organizations are located on city-owned property and receive operating subsidies. These organizations, known as the Cultural Institutions Group, vary widely in attendance and budget levels.. How dependent are these institutes on their city subsidies?
The city is in the process of spending $8.7b to close Rikers Island & replace it and other jails with new borough-based facilities. But the new jails are not expected be ready until 2026. In the interim, the city needs to spend millions of dollars on major repairs of the jails destined for closure.
FISCAL HISTORY: We’ve updated our tables on New York City revenue, spending, and full-time staffing to include fiscal year 2020. The charts cover four decades of the city’s fiscal history.
Our data detailing school spending since 1990 has been updated and now features interactive charts and graphs. It includes information on per pupil spending, revenue sources, and school debt service and pension costs.
Are children born later in the year more likely to be identified as students with disabilities than children born in earlier months? Amy Zimmer of Chalkbeat asked and IBO explored the data.
IBO introduces a new publication--a set of charts and graphs that highlight key findings from our latest economic forecast and tax collection and spending estimates, based on the Mayor’s preliminary budget for 2021 and financial plan.
In this new report we present the details of our latest economic forecast & projections of tax revenue and spending based on the Mayor’s Preliminary Budget for 2021 and financial plan through 2024.
FOCUS ON THE PRELIMINARY BUDGET: Seven years after Hurricane Sandy swamped the city’s coastal neighborhoods, the programs aimed at restoring damaged homes and apartment buildings linger on. More money has been added to the city’s budget to finish the job.
FOCUS ON THE PRELIMINARY BUDGET: Although the Governor’s budget would increase state aid for schools by over $800 million, the city’s share is less than the Mayor had expected in the Preliminary Budget for 2021.
FOCUS ON THE PRELIMINARY BUDGET: Over the past three years, the state has forced New York City to shoulder an increasing amount of annual child welfare and juvenile justice costs. The Governor’s budget for 2021 would continue this pattern.
NYC BY THE NUMBERS: Based on recommendations from the city’s Board of Correction, the de Blasio Administration is considering the release of some people now held in the city’s jails. How many people in custody might be released?
REPORT: The Governor contends that localities have allowed Medicaid spending to spiral because the state enacted a cap in 2012 that spared them from having to share in the increasing costs. His Executive Budget proposes to counter this.
The tumbling stock market has inevitably taken a toll on the value of the city’s pension funds. That means the city may have to increase its contributions to the funds by tens of million—if not hundreds of millions--of dollars in the coming years. We look at a few scenarios.
NYC BY THE NUMBERS: Subway ridership is way down. Which stations have seen the biggest declines in passenger entrances and what might plummeting ridership mean in terms of lost revenue for NYC Transit?
REPORT: The Covid-19 pandemic has played havoc with the city’s economy. We make some initial estimates of the resulting job losses and tax revenue declines compared with our estimates from just a couple of months ago.
PUBLIC SCHOOL INDICATORS: We’ve updated two sections of this resource--the section on school funding and spending and the one on crowding in school buildings.
As local tax revenue and aid from Albany decline due to the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, Mayor de Blasio has proposed using a substantial share of reserve funds to help balance the city’s budget. We look at the city’s different reserve funds and the Mayor’s plan for using them.
TESTIMONY: IBO Director Ronnie Lowenstein presents the New York City Council with an overview of IBO’s latest economic forecast and our estimates of revenue and spending under the Mayor’s Executive Budget.
REPORT: Washington has enacted four relief bills related to Covid-19. How much of this funding will flow to the city budget and how much to other key local agencies such as the housing authority and public hospitals.
The details behind our latest economic forecast, estimate of tax revenues, and projection of spending based on the Mayor’s Executive Budget and Financial Plan through 2024.
NYC BY THE NUMBERS: Since the de Blasio Administration began discharging people from the city’s jails to lessen the risk of Covid-19 contagion, the jail population has dropped by nearly 30 percent. Were some groups of people in custody more likely to be released than others? See the comparisons
FOCUS ON HE EXECUTIVE BUDGET: State aid for New York City schools has been cut in the budget recently passed in Albany, and may fall further as the year continues.
NYC BY THE NUMBERS: Last November voters approved a change to the City Charter that increased staffing at the Civilian Complaint Review Board. Is staffing expected to reach the approved level under the Mayor’s Executive Budget?
FOCUS ON THE EXECUTIVE BUDGET: The Mayor’s savings plan for next year includes nearly $475 million in cuts to the education department—68 percent of the reductions target funding for general education classrooms.
NYC BY THE NUMBERS: The Mayor budget includes the cancelation of this summer’s Summer Youth Employment Program. How much will that mean in lost income for the youth and their families?
FOCUS ON THE EXECUTIVE BUDGET: Summer programs canceled, pools closed. A pandemic and budget shortfalls may lead to a summer of discontent—but substantial savings for the city.
FOCUS ON THE EXECUTIVE BUDGET: The Covid-19 pandemic has added to the burdens of the city’s fiscally and physically troubled public housing. Does the Mayor’s Executive Budget provide help?
A report on the agency's efforts during the previous quarter to implement the plan adopted pursuant to paragraph nineteen (annual plan) of Section 815(a),including details of agency's efforts to implement equal employment practices, including statistical information regarding total employment, including provisional, seasonal, per-diem and part-time employees, new hiring and promotions in a manner which facilitates understanding of an agency's efforts to provide fair and effective equal opportunity employment for minority group members, women and members of other groups who are employed by, or who seek employment with, city agencies
A report on the agency's efforts during the previous quarter to implement the plan adopted pursuant to paragraph nineteen (annual plan) of Section 815(a),including details of agency's efforts to implement equal employment practices, including statistical information regarding total employment, including provisional, seasonal, per-diem and part-time employees, new hiring and promotions in a manner which facilitates understanding of an agency's efforts to provide fair and effective equal opportunity employment for minority group members, women and members of other groups who are employed by, or who seek employment with, city agencies
FOCUS ON THE EXECUTIVE BUDGET: Capital funding for affordable housing preservation and development programs has been shifted and, in some instances, shrunk in the Mayor’s latest budget plan.
FOCUS ON THE EXECUTIVE BUDGET: The Mayor’s budget for Vision Zero includes a relatively small cut in the Department of Transportation’s expense budget but an increase in capital spending.
We often get questions about NYPD overtime spending. So here's an update: In a 2-week period roughly since antiracism protests began, NYC spent $115 million on police overtime, over 4X spent in same period last year.
FOCUS ON THE EXECUTIVE BUDGET: Before the Mayor’s recent announcement that that the city may need to lay off or furlough as many as 22,000 municipal workers, the Executive Budget included the elimination of some vacant positions and a partial hiring freeze.
Subway and bus ridership fell with onset of Covid-19, playing havoc with the MTA’s budget. Many of the same factors keeping riders off the MTA’s rails, buses, bridges & tunnels is also leading to a slump in the agency’s dedicated tax revenues, another primary source of its funding.
NYC BY THE NUMBERS: The Covid-19 pandemic has led to a surge in unemployment and an increase in government assistance, including cash assistance grants. How much have New York city’s cash assistance rolls grown in recent months?
NYC BY THE NUMBERS: The Covid-19 pandemic brought renewed attention to the importance of parks and open space in neighborhoods. But some NYC neighborhoods have substantially more park space than others. We map the differences by square foot per resident.
A report on the agency's efforts during the previous quarter to implement the plan adopted pursuant to paragraph nineteen (annual plan) of Section 815(a),including details of agency's efforts to implement equal employment practices, including statistical information regarding total employment, including provisional, seasonal, per-diem and part-time employees, new hiring and promotions in a manner which facilitates understanding of an agency's efforts to provide fair and effective equal opportunity employment for minority group members, women and members of other groups who are employed by, or who seek employment with, city agencies
REPORT: Our new economic forecast and projections for tax revenue & spending based on the recently adopted budget for fiscal year 2021 & financial plan through 2024. The report, which includes our latest projection of job losses & gains and estimates of budget surpluses and gaps in the coming years.
REPORT: With hunger and food insecurity rising amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the de Blasio Administration launched the Grab & Go food program at many city schools, where anyone in need could pick up free meals. But were the sites located in the areas with the greatest economic need?
NYC BY TNE NUMBERS: When New York City went on a pandemic “pause” in the spring, work at some 35,000 construction sites came to a halt. But not for long. How many sites restarted work—and why—during the pause?
NYC BY THE NUMBERS: With City Hall preparing for layoffs due to the pandemic-related recession, IBO looked at the rise and fall in city staff before, during, and after the Great Recession. Which agencies had the deepest cuts? Which grew the most in recent years?
Report regarding the collection, retention, and disclosure of identifying information by such agency and any contractors or subcontractors utilized by such agency
The city’s public hospital system, NYC Health + Hospitals, was regaining fiscal stability. Then the Covid-19 pandemic arrived. There may be enough federal aid to help H+H recover, at least in the near term. How much can the system expect to receive and what are the fiscal challenges ahead?
NYC BY THE NUMBERS: Was $1 billion cut from the New York Police Department budget for this year? And how much of that cut continues next year and beyond in the city’s financial plan?
New York City’s budget includes more than $450m this year to fund the offices of the city’s 5 District Attorneys and Special Narcotics Prosecutor. In the 1980s & 1990s, as the number of arrests climbed staffing at these offices grew. But as arrests fell sharply over the past decade, did staff fall?
There are many complications to reopening schools in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. One of them is the basic question of whether the city’s public schools have enough physical capacity to accommodate students and teachers while social distancing.
LETTER: The city’s public schools are set to open next week (9/21/2020) with more than the usual number of teachers and the need for many safeguards. Council Member Mark Treyger asked us what this will cost.
NYC BY THE NUMBERS: Following an investigation into health care in the city’s jails, in 2015 Mayor de Blasio shifted responsibility for providing health care in the jails from private firms to the city’s public hospital system. Despite a shrinking jail population, the cost of care has increased.
NYC BY THE NUMBERS: Small businesses are an essential part of the New York City economy. Which industries have the most small businesses—and how much do they pay on average?
In 2016, the Mayor and City Council provided the libraries with a substantial hike in their subsidies with the aim of increasing public access and use of the more than 200 library branches across the five boroughs. How well have those goals been met?
DATA TABLES: We have updated the fiscal history section of our website with new data on New Yorkers’ income and personal income tax liability. The new data, the latest available, covers tax years 2017 and 2018.
]Roughly 150,000 special education students in New York City schools receive speech therapy and other “related services.” Many students are supposed to receive one or more services multiple times a week. With hybrid schedules, how many can receive their services in person?
While most New York City employees cannot receive pensions until they turn 62, police officers and firefighters can retire at any age after they have met their required number of years of service. Since 2010, how many of them began receiving pensions before turning 50?
BUDGET OPTIONS FOR NYC: We present 14 more ways the city can cut costs or raise revenue, with some pro and cons for each of the measures. Our compilation now includes more than 100 budget options.
The New York City Independent Budget Office today released 14 more measures that could reduce city spending or raise tax and other revenues as the city faces a difficult fiscal climate.
NYC BY THE NUMBERS: The Old Farmer’s Almanac says the Northeast may be in for a snowy winter. Regardless of such predictions, the city budgets for snow removal based on a formula in the City Charter. Some years this leads to savings, other years shortfalls. What’s the cost of digging out?
IBO’s fiscal outlook report presents our latest economic forecast for the city along with our projections of revenues and expenditures under the Mayor’s November financial plan.
NYC BY THE NUMBERS: The pandemic led to staggering job losses in the city. How much were efforts to find jobs for the city’s public-assistance recipients affected?
PRELIMINARY BUDGET REPORT: In this new report we present our latest economic forecast and analysis of the Mayor’s 2022 Preliminary Budget and Financial Plan through 2025. In the form of a chart book the report presents our key findings on the local economy and projections of tax revenues & spending.
The Campaign Finance Board provides public funding to candidates running for local office. The 2021 election cycle was the first in which it implemented recent changes to increase public financing to campaigns. IBO e looks at the amount spent in '21 & how it compares to previous elections.
PRELIMINARY BUDGET FOCUS: Just hours before the Mayor released the 2022 Preliminary Budget he learned that the Federal Emergency Management Agency was increasing its reimbursement rate to the city for Covid-related costs. How much more can the city expect and what does this mean for city spending?
TESTIMONY: IBO’s Elizabeth Brown presented testimony to the NYC City Council on key findings from her evaluation of the IDA’s Industrial Program. See the PowerPoint slides
FOCUS ON THE PRELIMINARY BUDGET: Over the past year, shifts in the composition of the city’s homeless population, increased spending on rental assistance, and pandemic-related aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency have altered the city’s costs for providing shelter for the homeless.
PRELIMINARY BUDGET FOCUS: A more detailed presentation of our most recent economic forecast for the city reveals a slow path towards recovery, with some sectors of the economy continuing to trail through 2025.
PRELIMINARY BUDGET FOCUS: A new brief focusing on our latest estimates for tax revenues based on our recent economic forecast and the Mayor’s Preliminary Budget and financial plan through 2025.
PRELIMINARY BUDGET FOCUS: Even with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on track to receive $6.5 billion in additional federal aid, there is still potential trouble ahead—for the authority and the city.
This has been a difficult school year, perhaps most difficult for students living in neighborhoods hardest hit by Covid. At the request of WNYC we have looked at attendance figures for schools, with a focus on schools in these hard-hit neighborhoods.
We’ve updated our charts on education department spending. The update now chart spending per student, enrollment, sources of funding, and other details from 1990 through 2020
As the pandemic swept the city and lead to school closures, job losses, and quarantine, food insecurity grew. New York City spending for emergency food grew too.
Continuing a pattern of cost shifts in recent years, the Governor has proposed a 5 percent cut in state aid for human services programs. See how the reductions would affect aid to the city.
PRELIMINARY BUDGET FOCUS: Under the Governor’s budget plan, state aid to NYC schools would grow next year. But the outlook for school aid is complicated by an influx of federal pandemic school aid and the Governor’s proposed restructuring and reductions of school support from Albany.
PRELIMINARY BUDGET FOCUS: City spending on tuition and other supports for special needs students under the rubric of Carter Cases continues to rise rapidly.
PRELIMINARY BUDGET FOCUS: A number of changes have been proposed that would affect how the city’s annual contribution to its pension funds are calculated. We explain the changes and their implications for the city’s budget:
The city’s public housing authority has to deal with removing lead paint, fixing broken elevators, a backlog of thousands of other repairs—and growing budget gaps. See the details on the housing authority’s fiscal challenges.
PRELIMINARY BUDGET FOCUS: The Covid-driven tailspin in the local economy has led to a big drop in expected property tax revenue next year. We explain how the finance department derives the market and assessed values underlying the falloff in projected revenue.
With the parents of thousands of preschoolers needing to go to work and many K-8th grade students doing schoolwork remotely, the de Blasio Administration created the Learning Bridges and Learning Labs programs to provide care, supervision, and help with classes at hundreds of sites across the city.
In addition to last summer’s threat of potential layoffs, the Mayor has implemented an attrition program, with agencies allowed to replace only one out of every three departing full-time employees. How far has headcount fallen and which agencies have seen the biggest staffing declines?