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?
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?
While 421-a Affordable New York has expired, talks on the future of the city’s largest tax expenditure continue. IBO examined how many affordable units it created since its start through June 2021, what incomes they serve, and how many received other subsidies.
In a series of charts and graphs, IBO compares enrollment changes during the first full school year impacted by the pandemic (20-21) with the second school year that just ended (21-22). We explore the different trends among the city’s traditional public schools and its charter schools.
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.
ACS's contracts with nonprofit agencies to provide foster care services to children who cannot remain safely in their homes. The city is in the process of rebidding those contracts, with new ones set to begin next fiscal year. In this brief, IBO explores the changes expected under the new contracts.
The New York City Housing Authority regularly passes its five-year operating budget with funding gaps, which in last year’s plan exceeded $300 million in most years. IBO examines changes in NYCHA’s budget, including the subsidies the city provides to NYCHA, and looks at challenges ahead.
Sidewalk sheds can feel as ubiquitous on NYC streets as hurried commuters & wandering tourists. They provide an important function protecting pedestrians from falling building debris, but they also block light & crowd sidewalks. IBO examines how the number of sidewalk sheds changed over times.
In SY 2014-15 the NYC DOE centralized its kindergarten admissions process to make it more equitable. IBO analyzes how the centralized process works and how its outcomes compare for students of different demographics.
Kindergarteners attending public school in NYC must apply through DOE’s centralized kindergarten choice process. While most students apply to zoned school, they can also apply to out-of-zone schools. School performance is likely a factor in a family’s decision to apply out-of-zone.
New York City By the Numbers: IBO has updated the fiscal history section of our website with new data on New Yorkers’ income and personal income tax liability. The new data, the most recent available, covers the 2019 tax year. See some highlights from our updated tables.
Much has been discussed about growth in city spending for Carter Cases—when students with disabilities are enrolled in private schools & parents seek tuition payment. In FY22, it topped $900M. We examine Carter Case spending & what the costs include.
IBO examines the demographic differences at each step of the gifted admissions process when the test was still in place—for students entering kindergarten in the 2018-2019 school year.
Over the past few months IBO participated as a non-voting observer on a task force to provide independent information and analysis. As part of that process, IBO simulated the fiscal impact of the task force’s top five recommendations. This presentation provides the results of those simulations.
The FDNY coordinates ambulance response to the about one million medical emergencies reported over the 911 system in the city each year. About a quarter of those emergencies are ALS, incidents involving heart attacks and other very serious conditions. IBO analyzes response times of these units.
In addition to the federal Covid-19 relief funds allocated to NYCs traditional public schools through the DOE, the city’s charter schools also received their own federal aid to help ease the impacts of the pandemic. IBO explores how much aid NYC’s roughly 300 charter schools received.
A new IBO analysis shows that the last time spending for the Parks Department was close to one percent of the City budget—a baseline sought by advocates—was 1977. In recent years, Parks spending is less than 0.6 percent of the total budget.
With thousands of asylum seekers arriving in New York City, an IBO report tracks the distribution of $26.7 million in Project Open Arms education funds and looks at NYC Schools language acquisition programs for children.
In this report, IBO explores the potential roadblocks to the Trust’s success, and its benefits and risks, as well as other operational reforms contained in NYCHA’s greater reform plan, A Blueprint for Change.
In this brief, IBO estimates the total cost of the city’s labor contracts under two scenarios that explore differences in contract terms and the timing of their ratification, as well as the impact of changes in the size of the city’s labor force.
In this brief, IBO examines this operating support and identifies risks that the city’s public hospital system is facing that may make city subsidies in the future even more critical.
IBO's review of the tax break, under Local Law 18 of 2017, was released as NYC Council is about to consider MSG’s DCP application to renew its zoning special permit. It also coincides with a reignited debate on the future of the beleaguered & over-capacity Penn Station that lies below MSG.
IBO analyzed the impact of the state’s new reduced class size rules on NYC schools. We found it would require hiring of 17,700 teachers at a cost of at least $1.6 billion annually for full compliance
An Independent Budget Office (IBO) analysis evaluates the employment effects of the $30.3 billion in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans distributed to New York City employers in 2020 and 2021.
High expectations: if it can overcome initial growing pains, the NYC legal cannabis market could bring in $1.2 billion in taxable tales and $47 million in annual revenue for the city
The Mayor’s Preliminary Budget proposes the elimination of nearly 300 vacant school safety agent positions. In this report, IBO explores these changes in budgeted and actual staffing.
The IBO released an analysis of City payments to nonprofit cultural organizations that may be the first such accounting of municipal investment in the cultural sector. The report details $727 million in payments made from the Expense Budget in Fiscal Year 2022.
A brief Explainer on Units of Appropriation, the most granular level of detail City Council approves in the budget resolutions. IBO also highlights the inherent tension between the Mayor and City Council over them.
At the request of the CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute, IBO analyzed City Council Schedule C funding levels in the past six years to assess allocations for food. The analysis provides information on trends in grants to food initiatives, food-adjacent initiatives, and all food-related initiatives.
IBO produced a detailed explanation of its projections for future costs associated with asylum seekers, and how they differ from the projections in the 2024 November Plan.
This report focuses on subsets of Program to Eliminate the Gap cuts which may substantially impact the life experiences of New Yorkers, referred to as “Human Impact PEGs”.
Around the country, policymakers and environmental advocates have been lobbying and pursing legislation that allows jurisdictions to address excessive stormwater through the enactment of stormwater fees. IBO examined the fiscal impact of a potential stormwater fee in New York City.
A NYCIBO analysis of NYC Schools teacher hiring and retention showed that city schools ended the last school year (2022-2023) with 2,500 fewer K-12 teachers than four years prior.
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.
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.
Did you know that Real Property Tax (RPT) is New York City’s largest source of tax revenue? Check out our recently released explainer and Real Property Tax Forecast to learn more!
Check out IBO’s newest analysis focusing on the fiscal impact of Street Vending. This analysis finds that lifting the caps on legal street vending would yield a positive fiscal impact, depending on how many vendors become permitted.
The New York City Independent Budget Office just released its City Fighting Homelessness & Eviction Prevention
Supplement (CityFHEPS) explainer! Learn more about the program's history, its challenges, and funding by reading our explainer today.
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.
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.
Interested in learning more about budget cuts to City programs like libraries? Explore our in-depth analysis of the Mayor's FY2025 PEGs and their impact on programs, services, and City functions. Check it out now.
This report is a mixed-method study which investigated the extent to which elementary students with disabilities were being recommended for more inclusive settings with their peers without disabilities in the New York City public school system.
A brief report summarizing the findings in "The Inflexibility of Special Education Recommendations: An Examination of Efforts to Educate Students in the Least Restrictive Environment."