No. 93 - September 10, 2024
New York by the Numbers
Monthly Economic and Fiscal Outlook
READ MORE [[link removed]]
Photo Credit: Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock
A Message from the Comptroller
Dear New Yorkers,
I hope you enjoyed the last gasps of summer and getting back into the school year/fall swing-of-things.
One of the late-summer traditions of the Comptroller’s Office is presenting our comprehensive analysis [[link removed]] on New York City’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 adopted budget at the annual meeting of the New York State Financial Control Board. OK, maybe not as fun as a trip to Coney Island, but it is required by law!
We raised three key points in our report. First, while NYC’s low unemployment rate is encouraging, significant challenges to the city’s economy remain. Job creation has been over-concentrated in health care and social insurance, while other important sectors, including financial services and information services, posted year-over-year job losses.
Second, NYC’s fiscal outlook is muddied by chronic “underbudgeting” by City Hall (i.e. presenting low numbers for expenses like homeless services and uniformed overtime, when everyone knows they will be higher). While our report estimates a manageable gap of $1.59 billion in FY 2025, much larger gaps—of $9.18 billion in FY 2026, $10.49 billion in FY 2027, and $12.70 billion in FY 2028—are on the horizon.
Finally, I repeated my call for the City to confront these challenges by adopting a stronger fiscal framework. You can learn more about the solutions we propose here [[link removed]] . Although the Mayor’s Charter Revision Commission refused to adopt them, they could still be implemented by local law and executive order.
Speaking of confronting fiscal challenges: every family with kids in New York City knows child care can be a financially crushing but essential obligation for parents. So this month’s Spotlight provides a numbers-oriented view of NYC’s publicly-supported child care programs. We examine the budget, funding, and enrollment impacts of the City’s administrative changes, the expansion of 3-K, the pandemic (and post-pandemic recovery), and recent budget maneuvering on the provision of publicly subsidized child care.
Providing affordable, accessible, high-quality child care is a critical issue for NYC families and our economy as a whole—and one place we’ll continue to watch the numbers.
[[link removed]]
Brad Lander
Table of Contents
*
The
U.S.
Economy
[[link removed]]
*
New
York
City
Economy
[[link removed]]
*
City
Finances
[[link removed]]
Highlights
*
The
US
economy
continues
to
grow
moderately;
inflation
has
continued
to
recede
nationwide
but
has
remained
stubbornly
high
locally.
*
The
local
labor
market
remains
fairly
solid
with
job
growth
expected
to
be
revised
up
a
bit;
still,
job
creation
has
not
been
broad
based,
predominantly
accruing
to
one
industry
sector:
Health
&
Social
Services.
*
Consumer
confidence
picked
up
in
August,
while
business
sentiment
remained
tepid.
*
The
local
housing
market
has
been
stable
(albeit
at
historically-high
rents
that
are
beyond
the
reach
of
many
NYC
families),
while
the
office
market’s
gradual
rebound
continued
in
August.
View the September Newsletter [[link removed]]
Spotlight
NYC's Publicly Supported Child Care Programs
This month’s Spotlight provides an overview of New York City’s publicly-funded child care programs and initiatives for ages 0-5, focusing on historical and current funding, eligibility criteria, and challenges in this important area.
View the Spotlight [[link removed]]
In Case You Missed It
Over the past month, the Office of Comptroller released the following announcements on the state of NYC’s economy and finances:
*
Comptroller
Lander
Exposes
NYC’s
Worst
Workers’
Rights
Offenders,
Launches
First-Ever
Comprehensive
Labor
Violations
Dashboard
[[link removed]]
*
NYC
Comptroller
Lander
Presents
Analysis
of
New
York
City’s
FY
2025
Adopted
Budget
to
Financial
Control
Board
[[link removed]]
*
NYC
Comptroller
Brad
Lander
Responds
to
Congressmembers
Jordan
&
Massie
on
Responsible
Investing
Efforts
[[link removed]]
*
Comptroller
Brad
Lander
Delivers
Remarks
Before
the
NYC
Council
on
the
Nomination
of
Randy
Mastro
as
New
York
City
Corporation
Counsel
[[link removed]]
Fiscal Notes on Property Tax Reform
The Comptroller is a long-time advocate of property tax reform to address flaws in NYC’s notoriously unfair, opaque, and arbitrary system. In response to recent developments, the Comptroller’s Office released two fiscal notes examining the impacts of potential changes, finding that changes implemented by the City alone have serious shortcomings. A combination of State legislation and City action would be a more comprehensive, fair, and effective path:
*
Fiscal
Note:
Implications
of
Lowering
the
Class
1
Assessment
Ratio.
[[link removed]]
A
review
of
the
distribution
of
property
tax
burden
within
Class
1,
and
the
potential
impacts
and
limitations
of
administratively
lowering
its
assessment
ratio
*
Fiscal
Note:
Comparable
Rentals
[[link removed]]
.
A
review
of
the
impact
of
the
New
York
State
requirement
that
NYC
assess
co-ops
and
condos
using
to
“comparable”
rental
buildings.
[link removed] [[link removed]] [link removed] [[link removed]] [link removed] [[link removed]] [link removed] [[link removed]]
Office of the New York City Comptroller
Office of New York City Comptroller Brad Lander
1 Centre Street
New York, NY 10007
United States
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