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Blog
Capital Spending
Mind the Gap
Funding Repair and Maintenance of New York City Infrastructure
July 26, 2010
Past neglect has created a need for nearly $5.6 billion in repair of existing facilities in New York City in order to bring them to satisfactory condition, known as a "state of good repair." Yet the City's capital budget allocates only about half, with the gap especially large for streets, hospitals, and parks.
Blog
Transportation
Watch the (MTA Budget) Gap!
Operating Budget Is Worse Than It Appears
August 07, 2019
The MTA's 2020 Preliminary Budget and four-year financial plan reveals an alarming fiscal outlook.
Testimony
Transportation
Testimony on the MTA’s Access-A-Ride Program
December 18, 2019
The City should work with the MTA to assure that Access-A-Ride will achieve firm financial footing while providing a cost-effective and efficient service.
Letter
Economic Development
CBC Urges the State Legislature to Let the Empire Zones Program Sunset
April 12, 2010
This letter was written to urge the State legislature to allow the seriously flawed Empire Zones program to sunset as of June 30, 2010, as established by law, and to enact the Excelsior program as proposed by the Governor.
Blog
Economic Development
End the Empire Zones Program and Adopt Excelsior
March 24, 2010
Explains why Empire Zones were ineffective and argues in favor of the improved features of Excelsior tax credits.
Report
Health Care
Analysis of the New York State Medicaid Program and Identification of Potential Cost-Containment Opportunities
November 17, 2010
This report identifies trends in expenditures and enrollment in New York’s Medicaid program.
Report
City Budget
Don’t Step Off the Cliff
Fiscal Cliffs and Budget Gaps in New York City’s Fiscal Year 2025 Preliminary Budget
February 08, 2024
To balance the fiscal year 2025 budget while also ensuring projected spending fully supports all planned programs, the City should implement an additional PEG in the Executive Budget and shrink or eliminate programs that the available resources cannot fully support.
Statement
State Budget
NYS Late Budget Fails to Reduce Structural Gap
$237B of Spending Approved without Providing Financial Plan Tables
April 20, 2024
Three weeks late, State lawmakers finally approved the budget and again have failed to publish basic financial plan tables that show New Yorkers essential details about how their money is being spent this year and the budget’s future impacts.
Testimony
Transportation
Testimony on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s 2020-2024 Capital Program
November 12, 2019
The plan’s sheer size renders it impossible to determine what investments should and will happen in the next five years
Testimony
Transportation
Public Comment on the Proposed Structure For the Central Business District Tolling Program
Submitted to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority
February 29, 2024
While the Citizens Budget Commission (CBC) has long held the position that there should not be credits for bridge or tunnel crossings, we believe the Traffic Mobility Review Board’s (TMRB) congestion pricing toll recommendations, as a whole, are reasonable.
Statement
State Budget
Conceptual Budget Agreement Appears to Take State Further in Wrong Direction, Increasing Structural Gap above $16B
Lawmakers Should Show Basic Financial Plans
April 15, 2024
The two-week late “conceptual” budget agreement leaves New York State with a significant future structural budget gap likely exceeding $16 billion.
Press Release
Transportation
Groups call for MTA Capital Program Review Board to Follow Open Meetings Law
August 08, 2019
Seventeen groups call on MTA Capital Program Review Board to follow open meetings law.
Blog
Pensions & Benefits
Simple But Significant
Savings from the Elimination of the Medicare Part B Reimbursement
December 19, 2010
As New York’s elected officials consider options for balancing budgets in the face of record deficits, they should eliminate a public employee fringe benefit rarely offered anywhere else: reimbursement for Medicare Part B premiums.
Report
State Budget
NYS Budget Outlook
Brighter Economy Has Not Closed Gaps; Focus Should Be Spending Restraint, with More Sunshine on Basic Breakouts
March 07, 2024
Continued strength in the economy has improved the tax receipts outlook for the State, but improving tax receipts are not and will not be the entire solution to closing out-year gaps.
Statement
City Budget
Statement on NYC Preliminary Budget FY 2020
February 07, 2019
In this uncertain economic environment, Mayor Bill de Blasio is right to urge caution and has announced the first Program to Eliminate the Gap (PEG) of his administration to be implemented in the Executive Budget. But for now, the City of New York Preliminary Budget Fiscal Year 2020 shows modest restraint in spending growth.
Blog
City Budget
PEGging It Right
Guidelines for the PEG Process
March 05, 2019
For the first time since taking office, Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced plans to implement a Program to Eliminate the Gap (PEG), which requires agencies to generate savings through expense reductions or revenue enhancements. The de Blasio administration previously eschewed PEGs in favor of Citywide Savings Plans (CSPs); in contrast to the PEG, agency participation in the CSP was voluntary. Pursuing a PEG presents both a challenge and an opportunity. This blog proposes three guidelines for the process: 1) identify significantly more than $750 million in savings, 2) encourage recurring savings through efficiency, and 3) follow agencies’ leads.
Report
City Budget
Unpacking the PEG
Examining the Impact of the NYC November 2023 Financial Plan Savings
January 10, 2024
Agencies should continue to identify efficiency savings that do not affect critical program services.
Blog
City Budget
The City’s FY 2011 Budget: The Buck Stops Here
July 12, 2010
With significant budget gaps looming in the outyears and the end of nearly a decade of multi-billion dollar surpluses, it is disappointing that more has not been done to lower spending.
Press Release
CBC News
CBC Releases "Unpacking the PEG: Examining the Impact of the NYC November 2023 Financial Plan Savings"
January 10, 2024
Mayor Eric Adams latest round of spending reductions only moderately affects direct services to New Yorkers and chips away at the City’s massive and still-troubling budget gaps.
Report
State Budget
Up and Away
State Budget Proposals Miss the Mark and Compound Fiscal Problems
March 26, 2024
As New York State lawmakers negotiate the State’s Fiscal Year 2025 Enacted Budget, they risk adding unsustainable spending, driving growth above 6 percent a year, and widening the structural gap to $20.3 billion.