New York City Independent Budget Office - Budgeting is essentially a series of tradeoffs, as city officials seek to balance the level of services that can be provided with the revenues that must
be raised to fund those services. These tradeoffs lie at the heart of IBO's annual publication of Budget Options for New York City. The report offers many options for bringing services and resources into
balance.
This 2008 report focuses on the allocation and uses of resources for various competing budget priorities. Listed in this report are the various options available for saving money and raising revenue, as well as the weighed/approximated costs and benefits for each option.
Report focuses on the allocation and uses of resources for various competing budget priorities, including the various options available for saving money and raising revenue, as well as the weighed/approximated costs and benefits for each option.
The New York City Independent Budget Office conducted a review of the Points of Agreement (POA) negotiated by the Mayor and the local City Council member for eight neighborhoods rezoned from 2016-2021.
FOCUS ON THE PRELIMINARY BUDGET: Mayor de Blasio adds city funds to latest capital commitment plan for repairs of the East River bridges and to repave city streets
FOCUS ON THE PRELIMINARY BUDGET: After an initial rise of about 10 percent in the cash assistance caseload following the de Blasio Administration's changes, which made the public assistance system less punitive and more focused on education and training, the caseload increase now appears to have leveled off.
A recent court decision may allow Gowanus to be the next neighborhood rezoned under the Mayor’s initiative, but 6 other neighborhood rezoning plans—from East New York to the Bay Street corridor--are already approved and underway. We look at the status of funding for 87 local projects.
An article about the increase in spending on the Runaway and Homeless Youth initiative and about the growing need for services for homless youths. The spending has doubled since 2005.
This article reviews how domestic violence has impacted the city spending. It includes the services provided to those suffering from domestic violence and how to prevent it.
FOCUS ON THE PRELIMINARY BUDGET: As the city's public hospitals have faced ongoing fiscal challenges, the de Blasio Administration has increased the city's funding for the system.
FOCUS ON THE PRELIMINARY BUDGET: The plan for capital spending in fiscal years 2017 through 2020 has grown under the Mayor's latest capital commitment plan, which accompanied the preliminary budget. Along with the growth in planned spending comes and increase in expected borrowing
FOCUS ON THE PRELIMINARY BUDGET: The Mayor's latest capital commitment plan includes a 50 percent increase in funding through 2020 for green infrastructure projects
For years, nonprofit social & human service providers have contended that city contracts did not fully cover indirect costs such as rent & utilities. The de Blasio Admin promised more funding, then reduced the allocation. Now the initiative to support indirect costs is fully funded—but for how long?
This report, issued by the Independent Budget Office, compares the per student public financial support for charter schools to the per student funding at traditional public schools. It was found that spending at each school varied based on their location.
As an advisory commission appointed by the Mayor and Council Speaker looks at ways to reform the city’s property tax system, we consider an idea suggested by a number of policy- and opinion-makers: reducing the percentage of a home’s market value that is subject to the property tax.
In our report on the Executive Budget, IBO presents our projections of tax revenues, our reestimates of spending under the Mayor’s proposals, and the resulting budget gaps and surpluses. The report also features our latest economic forecast, as well as outstanding risks.
Want to take a deeper dive into average daily spending by specific agencies? IBO has you covered. Download IBO’s new NYC Spending in a Day tool to select specific NYC agencies and types of expenditures to come up with your own cost to run NYC for a day.
IBO calculated how much the city is owed in unpaid balances. IBO examined three primary sources of unpaid balances: parking and camera-generated violations, lienable property charges, and penalties adjudicated by the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings that were incurred in CYs 2017-2022.
IBO investigates the reason why there was an increase in the cost of Yankee Stadium-related parks. This report includes the background and facilities of the parks.
As part of the effort to improve its fiscal health, New York City Health + Hospitals is counting on increased enrollment in its health insurance sudsidiary, MetroPlus.
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
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 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.
Included in its Preliminary Budget, the Adams Administration proposed 3 tax programs: one to enhance the value of city’s EITC, which increases the value of wages and salaries for low- and moderate-income tax filer; as well as 2 tax breaks to incentivize the development of childcare programs in NYC
The new York City Independent Budget Office's study delves into these enrollment losses, offering: Interactive maps that visually portray enrollment declines in New York City schools by school district.
IBO analysis of shows that the DOE requires additional city funding to continue programs funded with federal Covid aid, for Carter Cases, charter schools and more.
The financial emergency act was enacted in 1975 in response to NYC's historic financial crisis. After years of incurring substantial operation deficits, papered over with short-term borrowing, all masked
by inadequate reporting and accounting controls, the city found itself unable to sell its short-term notes in the credit markets in the spring of 1975.
Build and the Industrial Development Agency play important roles in helping to finance economic development and job creation in the city, yet they are not city agencies. This report looks at their history.
FOCUS ON THE PRELIMINARY BUDGET: With planned capital expenses growing over the next five years, the cost of debt service will also increase, but probably not by as much as OMB expects.
This report compares schools proposed for closing against other schools. The schools proposed for closing are found to be low performing, with below average student performance. However, there is no guarantee that a closing school will be replaced by a more successful one.
The New York City Independent Budget Office released a new video series( it developed to enable students, parents, and advocates to navigate New York City public school budgets.
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.
EXECUTIVE BUDGET FOCUS: With a boost from federal Covid-related funds, the Mayor’s budget plan enables the sanitation department to restart a variety of program cut during the recent budget crunch.
IBO has compiled a descriptive overview of the financing deals and public subsidies for Madison Square Garden and the three most recently constructed major league sports stadiums within New York City: Yankee Stadium, Citi Field, and Barclays Center.
Unlike many of the other major de Blasio Administration initiatives, there has been relatively little focus on ThriveNYC, which aims to greatly expand access to behavioral health services in the city. We detail the resources being committed to the 54 programs under the ThriveNYC umbrella
In 2017 the Campaign Finance Board provided candidates running for municipal offices ranging from the Mayor to City Council with a combined $17.7 million in public funds to support their campaigns.Candidates who meet the requirements are eligible to receive matching funds.
every $
IBO’s study of enrollment losses during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic, offering a comprehensive analysis of traditional public schools and charter schools in New York City.
The 421-a property tax exemption is the city’s largest tax expenditure, costing more than $1 billion
in forgone taxes each year. The exemption dates back to the 1970s and is currently up for renewal
in Albany.
In 2002, Mayor Bloomberg urged that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) take over the 82 express and local bus routes (most based in Queens) operated by seven private companies under franchise agreements
that included city subsidies.
Over the years 2002-2012, about 60 percent of the more than 75,000 homeless families with children entering the city’s shelter system had either a building with rent regulated apartments (43 percent) or a New York City Housing Authority development (16 percent) listed as their last address.
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?
When Mayor Bloomberg presented his last budget plan in November, he noted that the city’s full-time and full-time
equivalent headcount had fallen by 15,368 since December 31, 2001. But staffing levels since the end of fiscal year 2002, tell a different story.
When a low-income household loses their income or faces an extraordinary bill, they can face a utilities cutoff--or eviction. Did the pandemic lead to a surge in one-time emergency housing grants by the city?
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?
The average time in city jails credited to inmates newly sentenced to state prisons from Bronx courtrooms grew to 15.7 months in 2012, about six months more than the average in the remainder of the city. Lowering this average could save NYC money.
About 75,000 students—or over 7 percent—of the city’s 1.1 million public school students lived in the city’s homeless shelter system or were doubled up in the home of a friend or family member at some point during school year 2013-2014.
IBO used the address of each student attending a New York City public high school in the 2012-2013 school year to identify the census tract in which each student lived and the median household income for households residing in the tract.
IBO’s review of New York City’s spending on antismoking programs finds that spending levels
have varied widely in recent years—and that after trending downward the local adult smoking rate has been increasing.
QCEW data produced by the New York State Department of Labor shows that there are 226,900 private firms in NYC with about 3.8 million workers on their payrolls.
Over three-quarters of the roughly 8,000 inmates currently held in city jails are categorized as detainees, meaning their cases have not yet been settled.
To calculate a commercial property’s value for tax purposes, the city uses what is known as a “capitalized income approach.” IBO examines this method, focusing on a key part of the calculation and investigates how overestimation of these rates leads to inequitable property assessments.
The Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdown brought about extraordinary economic distress for New York City and its residents. That distress is now easing thanks to an influx of federal aid to the city budget and the successful development and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines.
To help New Yorkers and elected officials have a better understanding of the early childhood policy landscape IBO’s new report offers a detailed overview of the historical financial trends and policy shifts affecting Pre-K and 3-K programs.
Traffic on city streets is approaching pre-pandemic levels. With more traffic, comes more collisions & many of these accidents involve drivers impaired by alcohol or drugs. IBO looks at annual trends in the number of arrests of impaired drivers, as well as the number of collisions involving injuries
This fiscal brief by the New York City Independent Budget Office (IBO) addresses the City's new EarlyLearn program. The brief addresses its purpose, the initiative taken to implement it, and the challenges that face it. Also included are data related to funding and child care enrollment.
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
In this Budget Brief, IBO provides more details on our latest economic forecast and estimates of tax revenues, as well as a comparison with the Mayor’s tax projections included in the Preliminary Budget.
IBO has updated all education indicators including summary statistics on student enrollment, demographics, and academic performance, school-level teacher and principal characteristics, and building capacity and utilization in traditional public schools.
IBO has updated two sections of its Education Indicators: Student Attendance (data on average attendance and chronic absenteeism rates in traditional public schools) & Student Achievement (standardized test scores for grades 3-8 and Regents exam performance for high school students).
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
IBO has found the most recent budget initiative for government-funded nonprofits providing human service programs to New Yorkers will pay less than half of the cumulative raises provided to unionized City employees.
Governor Cuomo's latest proposal for reviving the 421-a tax break for housing development has several new features. The Mayor's preliminary budget did not account for the potential cost of this new iteration of 421-a. How much more could this cost the city in forgone tax revenue? IBO's estimate.
At the request of Council Member Chi Ossé, the IBO estimated the annual cost of introducing fare-free local bus service in New York City under three scenarios: waive bus fares for all riders, riders who are 65 or older or who have disabilities, and New Yorkers who are low income.
This New York City Independent Budget Office (IBO) report shows the initiatives taken New York City to improve its response to medical emergencies. Analyzed in this report are data and information regarding the costs of having a stronger initiative as well as the improvements made over the time period 1999 to 2011.
The Mayor’s Executive Budget for FY 2023 restored some funding for the city’s organics recycling program, which suffered cuts in the Mayor’s previous budget proposal. However, none of the reinstated funding is for the expansion of the city’s curbside collection program.
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.
The Mayor’s latest capital plan adds more funding for the development and preservation of housing over the next five years. Which programs are getting an increase?
The New York City Independent Budget Office (IBO) is announcing the publication of our report Exemption vs Abatement. This report provides policymakers with insights into the tax liability implications of these two different ways of structuring any new 421-a replacement program.
This Fiscal Brief describes the effect of budget cuts on after-school programs for New York City children. Spending on after-school services, such as Out-of-School Time, have decreased, leading to major changes that affect the future of these programs.
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?
Per the request of Council Member Ossé, the NYC Independent Budget Office estimated the cost of expanding Fair Fares NYC to cover fare-free transit for New Yorkers who are aged 65 and older or who have disabilities, and whose income is less than 200% of the federal poverty level.
This report summarizes the fare and toll increases implemented by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to accommodate the fiscal health of the city from 1996 to 2013. Given the financial pressures the MTA continues to face, fare increases are likely to continue.
To inform New Yorkers and elected officials interested in the program, the New York City Independent Budget Office has completed an analysis examining the exemption of yellow taxis from the proposed congestion pricing Surcharge of $1.25.