Search
Showing 1 - 20 of 129
Blog
Public Workforce
Why Spend to Save?
Early Retirement Incentives Save Less than Attrition
January 28, 2021
ERIs are a more costly workforce reduction strategy than attrition or layoffs.
Letter
Pensions & Benefits
CBC Proposes Guidelines for Determination of Health Insurance Savings Between City and MLC
Letter to Commissioner Robert Linn
June 05, 2014
This letter suggests guidelines for effective implementation of the agreement between the City and the Municipal Labor Committee to generate $3.4 billion in health care savings between fiscal years 2015 and 2018.
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.
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.
Blog
Pensions & Benefits
Giving Credit Where It’s Due? New York City’s $1.3 Billion in Health Insurance Savings
December 28, 2014
In its recent mid-year budget modification the de Blasio administration credited a coalition of municipal employee unions with achieving $1.3 billion in savings in the City’s employee and retiree health insurance costs. Yet the unions have not agreed to any changes in the plan, and the City and the unions have taken no actions to reduce costs. How can this be?
Blog
Economic Development
Complement, Don't Duplicate
Targeting NYC Small Business Recovery Programs
June 21, 2021
It is critically important for the City to identify potential gaps first by determining which businesses are eligible for which existing programs and whether those programs reasonably meet their needs.
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.
Press Release
CBC News
WNBC-TV is co-hosting debates with Citizens Budget Commission, Telemundo 47, Politico, and New York Urban League
March 11, 2021
NYC Votes today announced the broadcast sponsors and schedule for the 2021 citywide Debate Program.
Blog
Public Workforce
A Premium Option
School Districts Can Save $850 Million By Following the State’s Lead on Health Insurance
February 22, 2021
In response to New York State’s fiscal year 2022 budget gap, the executive budget calls for a change to the composition of school funding.
Press Release
CBC News
Straight from New Yorkers:
CBC Resident Survey Gives Comprehensive View of Satisfaction with Quality of Life, City Services
March 19, 2024
CBC’s first post-pandemic Resident Survey shows sharp drops in citywide satisfaction ratings from 2017; New Yorkers rate life in their neighborhoods generally higher than citywide quality of life; Adams Administration’s priorities align with those of New Yorkers
Blog
City Budget
Bridge Over Troubled Fiscal Waters?
Only if Federal Aid Is Used Wisely
March 15, 2021
With more than $5 billion in additional federal relief expected to flow to New York City, the appropriate course of action now would be to address the most pressing pandemic and related expenses and responsibly backfill shortfalls in tax revenues temporarily but resist the urge to fund programs with recurring costs without a long run fiscal stability plan.
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.
Report
Transportation
The Track to Fiscal Stability
Operations Reforms for the MTA
May 25, 2021
Given the implementation challenges, saving the full $2.9 billion by 2024 may not be likely. Still, significant changes should be pursued—and achieved—if the MTA is to be on a fiscally sustainable path.
Blog
Transportation
Light, at the Beginning of the Tunnel
What to Look for in the MTA 2021 July Financial Plan
July 20, 2021
While the path to achieving operating savings is hard, it is much preferable to phase in these savings over the next few years than to have massive fare and toll increases, economically damaging service cuts, or significant increases in dedicated taxes and subsidies.
Report
City Budget
Real Numbers, Real Choices
Recommendations for a Clearer Fiscal View in the NYC Executive Budget
April 18, 2024
New York City’s long-run fiscal stability is precarious, and its short-term prospects are uncertain. Major causes of this uncertainty are revenue estimates that may be unreasonably conservative and spending estimates for current programs that are alarmingly understated.
Report
Energy & Environment
Getting the Fiscal Waste Out of Solid Waste Collection in New York City
September 23, 2014
With a new mayoral administration, a new sanitation commissioner, and an expired contract with municipal sanitation workers, redesigning the public and private components of local waste collection would save about $300 million annually in the long term. The Mayor and City Council should make this restructuring a goal and begin a multiyear phase-in.
Statement
City Budget
Statement on the New York City Fiscal Year 2025 Preliminary Budget
January 16, 2024
While Mayor Adams leveraged strong revenues and wisely implemented two rounds of PEG savings to balance the Preliminary Budget, many more hard choices are still needed to stave off a fiscal reckoning.
Testimony
City Budget
Testimony on Oversight of Changes to Municipal Retirees’ Health Care Plan
Testimony before the City Council Committee on Civil Service and Labor
October 28, 2021
This agreement starts right and then veers off course to miss the finish line because the resulting savings do not flow to the City’s bottom line.
Blog
Public Workforce
Rising Again
City Reverses Course on Workforce Reduction
June 08, 2021
With annual budget gaps in fiscal years 2023 to 2025 nearing $5 billion (including unspecified labor savings), the City should not increase the size of its workforce.
Statement
Pensions & Benefits
Statement on Commissioner Linn's Response to CBC Letter on NYC Health Agreement With the MLC
June 09, 2014
The CBC appreciates receiving Commissioner Linn’s response to CBC President Carol Kellermann’s letter relating to potential savings from health insurance reforms under the recent agreement with the Municipal Labor Committee.