Dear New Yorkers,

Last month, Mayor Adams announced a hastily-appointed Charter Revision Commission (CRC), which he says is tasked with reviewing the City Charter and determining how to make City government work better for New Yorkers.

The CRC’s proposals will be on the ballot this fall. The CRC may propose a broad set of amendments, or focus its proposals on certain areas.

There is good reason to doubt Mayor Adams’ motives for appointing a Charter Revision Commission, but there’s no doubt that our City needs better management—including better fiscal stewardship, especially.

The CRC must demonstrate that it is independent and serious by adopting provisions to strengthen the City’s fiscal management, build reserves, achieve long-term efficiencies, overhaul capital planning, and pay vendors on time.

If it’s able to do that, the CRC is an opportunity for the City to adopt a stronger fiscal framework that will improve City management. I released a report on this last week, and will be testifying at a CRC hearing soon.

Here are five constructive proposals to improve the way our City is run:

1. Adopt a policy to govern the target size, deposits, and withdrawals from the City’s rainy-day fund.

2. Mandate regular efficiency reviews and long-term savings targets, including making agencies accountable for judgments and claims against the City which are their responsibility.

3. Require that debt service does not exceed 15 percent of City tax revenues and that the Capital Stabilization Reserve be used to ensure this target is maintained.

4. Modernize the City’s approach to infrastructure assessment, capital planning and budgeting to comply with Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) and Municipal Finance Officers’ Association (MFOA) best practices.

5. Mandate timeframes for each stage of the contracting process.

Read more about these proposals – which we urge the CRC to adopt and put on the ballot this fall – here.

Thanks,

Brad