As we look toward the future of our city, we need to ensure we’re getting the basics right.

Dear New Yorkers,

Earlier this week I had the privilege of returning to the City Council for my 13th consecutive preliminary budget hearing—my first as Comptroller—to share our analysis and priorities for the proposed Fiscal Year 2023 budget.

This budget is New York City’s chance to invest in the services and infrastructure our city needs for an inclusive, resilient, long-term recovery.

Top of mind for me and many policymakers is our adjustment to remote and hybrid work. We need a lot less finger wagging at employees to get back into the office five days a week, and a lot more focus on creative solutions to help transform Midtown office space and jumpstart the jobs and businesses of tomorrow. Think biotech labs, innovation incubators, CUNY campuses, and more Midtown karaoke!

There’s real reason for budget optimism. Property values rebounded in the most recent tentative property roll, residential real-estate transactions have been strong, and tax collections to-date are $1.6 billion above the November forecast. My office forecasts stronger revenues carrying through the rest of the fiscal year, bringing in an additional $1.4 billion above the administration’s projections.

The Mayor rightly urged agencies to look for recurring savings, but I worry about the Department of Correction—a department that urgently needs reform—being shielded from cost-cutting, despite the fact it’s paying workers who haven’t shown up to work in months ([link removed]) .

Making sure public money is spent prudently and effectively is a top priority, especially with the one-time injection of billions in Federal relief money coming in. To ensure that we are wisely using this opportunity to help vulnerable students, small businesses, and neighborhoods recover, on Tuesday my office unveiled a new COVID funding tracker ([link removed]) that allows the public to track $11 billion in federal stimulus funding.

I joined Pat Kiernan on NY1 to talk about the COVID funding tracker in greater detail:

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Budgets are about the future. And as we look toward the future of our city, we need to ensure we’re getting the basics right. One area of COVID spending reveals both the importance and the challenge the City faces in spending wisely on a thriving and inclusive recovery: sanitation. Across the five boroughs, New Yorkers in every community have told me they are deeply distressed by how dirty their neighborhoods are. We need to make sure all neighborhoods in our city are receiving timely and effective sanitation services.

The future also demands a more resilient city. That means going much further and faster in moving toward clean energy, which is why I’ve proposed the Public Solar NYC plan to dramatically scale-up rooftop solar installations through an innovative municipal approach.

We also need to focus on ensuring our previous legislative victories have the resources they need to succeed. Local Law 97—which passed in 2019—is the most aggressive law in the country requiring owners to retrofit larger buildings for energy efficiency. Yet the budget doesn’t fund either the staff resources needed for enforcement, or the financial and technical assistance needed to retrofit affordable housing.

We’ve already seen, too many times just in the last few years, the costs of not being prepared for storms and other emergencies. And we’ve seen that those disasters hit the most vulnerable households hardest. It is incumbent on us to budget now to prepare for the risks ahead.

The good news is this: focusing on the basics, investing in a more inclusive recovery, and building a more resilient city are by far the best ways to build a genuinely thriving New York City for the years ahead.

Let’s get there together,

Brad

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