Committee on Finance meeting
March 11, 2026, 11:00 AM
The Committee on Finance held its FY2027 preliminary budget hearing on the city's central fiscal agencies: the Independent Budget Office, the Comptroller's Office, and the Department of Finance. The committee took testimony on the Mayor's preliminary spending plan and recorded no votes.
What was discussed
- Council leaders open the FY2027 preliminary budget hearing Chairperson Linda Lee opened the Finance Committee's FY2027 preliminary budget hearing on the Mayor's $127 billion plan, welcoming steps to correct chronic underbudgeting but opposing the proposed ~10% property tax increase and the draw-down of reserves. Speaker Julie Menin said the Council had
- IBO estimates multibillion-dollar gaps and flags unfunded state mandates Director Louisa Chafee (IBO) testified that the Mamdani administration's first budget commendably reverses years of underbudgeting but rests on optimistic revenue assumptions, projecting gaps of $535 million this year and nearly $6 billion in FY2027. She flagged fast-growing costs—CityFHEPS
- Is a property tax increase necessary to balance the budget? Director Louisa Chafee and Sarah Parker (IBO) told Speaker Julie Menin and Council Members Kamillah Hanks, Crystal Hudson, Mercedes Narcisse and Frank Morano that the office does not offer opinions but that its new report shows property taxes fall hardest on renters at the lower end of the income
- When is it appropriate to draw down the city's reserves? Director Louisa Chafee (IBO) told Speaker Julie Menin and Council Member Frank Morano that the administration is using $980 million from the rainy day fund to balance FY2026 and intends to replace it in FY2028, underscoring the need for clear rules that the Council and administration must negotiate.
- Can CityFHEPS spending grow as budgeted given the housing supply? Sarita Subramanian and Director Louisa Chafee (IBO) told Speaker Julie Menin, Chairperson Linda Lee and Council Member Frank Morano that while demand for rental assistance is real amid the affordability crisis and federal cuts, it is doubtful the housing supply can absorb spending projected to
- How realistic is the budget, and what do vacancies and weak job growth mean for it? Director Louisa Chafee, Sarah Parker and Sarita Subramanian (IBO) told Chairperson Linda Lee that the administration's cost estimates are generally more realistic, that roughly 15,000 vacancies yield about $681 million in personnel accruals (civilian plus pedagogical), and that IBO's revenue
- Where can the city find savings, mandate relief, and new revenue? IBO witnesses told Council Members Nantasha Williams, Gale Brewer, Darlene Mealy and Selvena Brooks-Powers that closing the gap will require a mix of operational efficiencies, uncollected fines and fees, repealing as-of-right tax breaks (ICAP, REAP, RACE, the Madison Square Garden exemption), and
- Members press IBO on program-specific costs from policing to child care IBO witnesses fielded targeted questions: Director Louisa Chafee and colleagues told Council Member Shaun Abreu they had not costed doubling DCWP or studied deliverista wages and flagged low B-HEARD dispatch rates; told Council Member Christopher Marte that Medicare Advantage for retirees would not
- Comptroller Levine warns the budget shifts fiscal risk into the future Comptroller Mark Levine testified that the city is spending more than it takes in and that the administration balances the budget through four risky measures: aggressive revenue projections, drawing down reserves, slashing prepaid expenses 94%, and raising property taxes near the constitutional
- Can the growth of CityFHEPS and special-education Carter cases be slowed? Comptroller Mark Levine told Speaker Julie Menin that CityFHEPS keeps about 65,000 families housed but is not sustainable at ~4% monthly growth, and that options include changing parameters or setting an expenditure cap—though a cap creates waiting lists. On Carter cases, which have tripled in three
- Where are the real savings—no-bid contracts, technology, and procurement? Comptroller Mark Levine told Speaker Julie Menin he would work with the Council on her law curbing long-term no-bid emergency contracts, cautioning the rules should apply only for the real duration of an emergency. He told Council Member Lincoln Restler that 'waste, fraud and abuse' savings are
- How can the city improve MWBE contracting and analyze the budget for equity? Comptroller Mark Levine fielded Council Member Nantasha Williams's questions on his office's finding that MWBEs receive only about 5% of citywide procurement value, and discussed whether the city meets the state's 30% MWBE goal and how the office measures whether budget allocations are equitably
- Members raise housing investment, shelters, Rikers, and NYPD overtime with the Comptroller Comptroller Mark Levine and his deputies fielded wide-ranging questions: Council Member Shaun Abreu on the Council's $5 billion City for All housing investment and rising construction costs; Council Member Gale Brewer on Rikers' broken cell doors, insurance costs, consultant contracts and AI
- Department of Finance outlines revenue collection, lien-sale pause, and property tax reform Acting Commissioner Jeffrey Shear (DOF) testified that the agency's $378.5 million FY2027 budget supports collection of more than $50 billion in taxes and revenues, and highlighted a new Office of Deed Theft Prevention, expanded outreach, MWBE procurement gains, and reforms to the tax-lien sale
- Why are uncollected business taxes rising, and is DOF staffed to collect them? Acting Commissioner Jeffrey Shear (DOF) told Chairperson Linda Lee that collectible unpaid business-tax warrants reached about $1.1 billion, driven partly by pandemic-era business closures that may not be reflected in the agency's 'uncollectible' criteria, which DOF is reviewing. He and Deputy
- When will the property tax reform proposal and deed-fraud office be ready? Acting Commissioner Jeffrey Shear (DOF) told Council Member Nantasha Williams the agency has no precise timeline for its Albany property tax reform proposal but that the Mayor is committed and treats raising rates as a last resort. Williams pressed that reform is long overdue and should precede any
- Members raise Sheriff enforcement, ghost plates, and technology investment with DOF Acting Commissioner Jeffrey Shear and Deputy Commissioner Jacqueline James (DOF) answered Council Member Gale Brewer on where fines from closed illegal smoke shops appear and on enforcement against 'ghost' license plates, and told Council Member Virginia Maloney that a $7.9 million increase to the
Agenda
1 item
- T2026-1350 New York City Council Budget and Oversight Hearings on The Preliminary Budget for Fiscal Year 2027, The Preliminary Capital Plan for Fiscal Years 2027-2030 and The Fiscal 2026 Preliminary Mayor’s Management Report 11:00 a.m. Independent Budget Office 12:30 p.m. Comptroller 2:00 p.m. Department of Hearing Held by Committee