New York City agencies should work harder to identify savings, city Comptroller Scott Stringer said in his review of Mayor Bill de Blasio's $84.7 billion preliminary fiscal 2018 budget.
Uncertainty about federal cuts under Republican Donald Trump's presidency adds to the urgency, Stringer told reporters Tuesday at the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building in lower Manhattan.
"City agencies must do more to scrub the budget and scrub their operations. The more they scrub, the more they save," said Stringer, a Democrat and a rumored challenger to fellow Democrat de Blasio's re-election bid this year.
Stringer is scheduled to present his review to the City Council in two weeks. De Blasio will present his executive budget, the next step in the process, in the spring and the 51-member council must approve it by June 30.
The average agency contribution to the city's savings program is 1% the past three years under de Blasio, according to Stringer. Under the previous six years of Michael Bloomberg's administration, the average was 2.7%.
Federal budget cuts and immigration cutbacks, he said, could "seriously harm" citizens who rely on numerous programs funded with federal aid.
The city receives $7 billion annually, or about 8% of its budget, from the federal government. Beneficiaries include 124,000 families on Housing and Urban Development Section 8 vouchers, assistance for heating costs and job-seeking support.
A repeal of the Affordable Care Act, said Stringer, could have a "devastating impact" on 1.6 million newly enrolled New Yorkers and the city's Health + Hospitals system. City support has doubled to $2.1 billion
He said $200 million in annual federal revenues are at risk, plus a further $305 million annual cost to the city from a potential loss of savings under enhanced federal medical assistance percentages.
De Blasio last year announced a transformation plan intended to close budget gaps that could reach $1.8 billion by 2021. ACA repeal, according to Stringer, could derail that.
Stringer said an analysis by his staff shows higher outyear gaps than the mayor's. His restated gaps for fiscal 2019 through 2021 are $3.7 billion, $3 billion and $2.5 billion, respectively, contrasting with the projections by de Blasio's Office of Management and Budget of $3.3 billion, $2.5 billion and $1.8 billion.
He also called the city's reserve cushion inadequate, citing its drop to 10% of savings in fiscal 2018 from a peak of 17.4% nine years ago.
"The comptroller has criticized universal pre-K, equipping officers with body cameras, unprecedented highs in affordable housing and job creation, a balanced budget with record savings, and sweeping investments in homelessness prevention. City Hall shares the public's wonderment at what exactly the comptroller's fighting for," de Blasio press secretary Eric Phillips said in a response.
S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings assign AA ratings to the city's general obligation bonds. Moody's Investors Service rates them Aa2. All three assign stable outlooks.
All three major bond rating agencies, in reports preceding the city's $850 million GO sale last month, warned about high debt as well as pension and other post-employment benefits liabilities.
Stringer called out the Department of Homeless Services for overspending without effectively dealing with the city's homeless crisis. The department's projected spending of $1.9 billion for fiscal 2018 is $257 million beyond the adopted budget, said the comptroller. He cited dramatic rises in the cost of housing people in commercial hotels, spending for which reached $102 million in calendar 2016.
DHS, said Stringer, also failed to update metrics in its online dashboard for more than a year.
"We have to employ some basics in budgeting right here, right now," said Stringer. "We need transparency, people."
De Blasio intends to announce an initiative shortly to combat homelessness.
"Laudable initiatives" to the de Blasio spending plan, according to Stringer, include $1 billion to replace roofs at 729 New York City Housing Authority buildings, bulletproofing police car windows and adding 300 school crossing guards.
S&P and Fitch Ratings assign AA ratings to the city's general obligation bonds. Moody's Investors Service rates them Aa2. All three assign stable outlooks.
All three major bond rating agencies, in reports preceding the city's $850 million GO sale last month, warned about high debt as well as pension and other post-employment benefits liabilities.
Moody's in a report preceding last month's $850 million general obligation bond sale, said reduced concentration in the financial sector will probably mitigate revenue volatility.
