Earlier this week, the New York City Council released its response to the Mayor’s Fiscal Year 2025 Preliminary Budget. The response identifies $6.15 billion in newly available funds, citing higher-than-expected tax revenue from both the current and upcoming fiscal years, underspending on personnel costs, and reserves that need to be spent by the end of the next fiscal year.

The Council’s response calls for a restoration of cuts from the Mayor’s Financial Plan and Preliminary Budget, strengthening reserves, and helping to soften the impact of expiring federal funds. Highlights of the Council’s plan include the following:

• Investing in affordable housing and prioritizing Housing Authority (NYCHA) repairs
• Restoring and baselining funding for culture and parks
• Prioritizing continued funding towards education, including a planned 3-K expansion
• Restoring and enhancing recidivism reduction programs and investing in housing for justice-involved individuals
• Restoring and baselining funding for shelter and services for homeless youth

In addition to the above restorations and investments, the Council proposes to set aside roughly half of the newly identified funds to protect against risks stemming from under-budgeting, as identified in the Preliminary Budget, as well as dedicate $500 million to the Rainy Day Fund reserves. Further, this leaves over $1 billion in newly identified funding to address other fiscal needs.

Budget negotiations will continue between the Mayor and the Council. Mayor Adams will release his Executive Budget later this month, followed by additional Council budget hearings on the Executive Budget in May. Per the NYC charter, the budget must be adopted by June 30.

Read the Council’s press release on their Preliminary Budget response here and the Fiscal Year 2025 Preliminary Budget Response here.