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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.
Op Ed
State Budget
State budget gaps are coming. The time to address them is now.
Albany Times Union
October 20, 2023
With temporary funding boosts petering out, New York must curtail spending growth to head off painful cuts later.
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.
Press Release
CBC News
CBC Releases "7 Facts about the Adams Administration’s Prior Savings Plans"
April 12, 2023
When Mayor Eric Adams’ Administration directed City agencies to implement a PEG (Program to Eliminate the Gap) last week, many were concerned about the potential service impact since the Administration had already implemented three savings plans.
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.
Op Ed
City Budget
City budget crunch time means tough decisions — not more taxes
New York Post
December 20, 2023
Under every published projection, even after the mayor’s latest Program to Eliminate the Gap, New York City still faces a budget shortfall next year.
Report
Energy & Environment
Keys to a Cap-and-Invest Design That’s Earth- and Economy-Focused
Recommendations for a Cost-Effective Program to Meet New York's Ambitious Climate Goals
November 28, 2023
While NYCI provides a great opportunity to reduce emissions in a cost-effective manner and fund critical investments strategically, its success depends on it being well designed and implemented.
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.
Report
City Budget
What to Look for in the New York City November 2023 Financial Plan
November 14, 2023
When New York City adopted its fiscal year 2024 budget in June 2023 without addressing underlying structural imbalances, it virtually guaranteed that major fiscal challenges remained on the horizon.
Statement
City Budget
Statement on NYC's FY 2024 Executive Budget PEG Directive
April 04, 2023
The City is right to initiate a PEG—a Program to Eliminate the Gap—for the Executive Budget. This action is timely, if not overdue.
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.
Blog
City Budget
7 Facts about the Adams Administration’s Prior Savings Plans
April 12, 2023
CBC finds that 92 percent of the prior plans’ savings will have no effect on services since they come from eliminating underspending, re-estimating costs, savings on debt service, leveraging federal or other funding, and increasing efficiencies in ways designed to preserve services.
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
Housing
4 Fast FHEPS Facts
May 08, 2023
The cost of these rental assistance programs has increased immensely, from $16 million in fiscal year 2015 to an anticipated $636 million in fiscal year 2023.