New York City will end the fiscal year with a surplus of just over $3 billion, the Independent Budget Office watchdog organization said in a report. That amount, said IBO, nearly matches projections from Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration.
IBO also projects a "comparatively modest" surplus of $685 million in 2016, followed by relatively small annual shortfalls of roughly $450 million in fiscal 2017 through 2019. Its projected $448 million gap for 2017 is less than a third of the shortfall de Blasio projected and less than 1% of IBO's estimate of city-generated revenues.
IBO said May 15 it derives its surplus and gap estimates from its economic and tax-revenue forecasts along with its re-estimate of spending under the framework of the executive budget and 10-year capital program, which the 51-member City Council must approve by June 30.
"The city's fiscal outlook remains solid," IBO said in a May 15 statement, citing general reserves of $1 billion annually and $2.6 billion in its retiree health benefits trust. "But this outlook presumes no economic downturn through 2019."
IBO warned that the city faces budget pressure to hire more police officers and expand library hours.
