okay are we ready okay all right good afternoon everyone uh thank you all for being here I'm Deputy speaker Diana Ayala and we are here today to officially release the council's fiscal year 24 preliminary budget response a budget is a statement of values and the council has been clear that what we value is the safety health and well-being of all New Yorkers our budget agenda reflects the priorities of our delivery legislative body and members who represent every corner of our city the best way to help New Yorkers succeed is by investing in them as the speaker eloquently said in her state of the city last month we must put our people over everything that will not be accomplished by failing to invest in essential services and programs that are Lifeline to communities New Yorkers need fully funded libraries Equitable and well-resourced early childhood education programs access to food assistance and housing vouchers and a public school system that provides opportunities for every student New Yorkers deserve a budget that meets their needs as chair of the council's general welfare committee I am particularly focused on providing stable housing for unhoused New Yorkers and ensuring that residents get their benefits processed and delivered on time with the severe understaffing at Key City agencies that is not happening as a council it is our job to point out the gaps and solutions from our different perspective as you will hear from our speaker and our finance chair our preliminary budget response calls for investing in essential Services housing and educational opportunities that uplift New Yorkers across all five boroughs as we continue to negotiate the city budget over the coming weeks we will continue to stand up for equity progress and what is right for all New Yorkers this is our charge to deliver the best budget for New Yorkers thank you and now I'd like to introduce the leader of the New York City Council speaker Adrian Adams thank you so much Deputy speaker Ayala and thank you all for joining us today before I begin I would just like to express the council's condolences to the family and friends of the two construction workers who were killed this morning in the tragedy at JFK airport our hearts and prayers truly truly go out to the families thank you once again for joining us today as we unveil the council's official response to the fiscal 2024 preliminary budget thank you once again to my right arm my Deputy speaker Diana Ayala for the introduction and for being RMC today we of course have our finance chair Justin Brannon here along with Majority Leader Keith powers and majority with Selena Brooks Powers council members Gail Brewer Rafael Salamanca Amanda farias Crystal Hudson Rita Joseph Shaker Krishna and Linda Lee Pharaoh Lewis Julie mimnin fiorina Sanchez nantasha Williams Julie one who did I miss Mercedes narcissist Lynn Shulman Oswald Feliz okay and of course we want to especially thank our hard-working BNT members and Council finance division staff for all of your hard work since the start of this year's City budget process the council has made clear that our vision for the city is one that focuses on putting people over everything and investing in the essential services that all New Yorkers rely on to be healthy safe and successful throughout the preliminary budget hearings We examined agency budgets to understand how they propose to address some of our City's greatest challenges whether it's our housing crisis food insecurity public safety education and many other areas we heard from service providers City agencies and everyday New Yorkers the council's preliminary budget response is our guide for the direction of the city budget towards fulfilling the city's obligation to deliver essential Services we understand that the city faces potential budget and economic risks for months our city has been shouldering nearly the entire cost of providing services and support to thousands of people seeking Asylum the economy poses potential challenges of its own while the state budget remains outstanding and carries its own uncertainties our budget response accounts for all of those risks including costs related to labor settlements which were not accounted for in the prelim preliminary budget we've worked with the administration to minimize our state budget risks by raising shared concerns regarding proposed MTA cost shifts the low reimbursement rate for Asylum Seeker services and other reimbursement formulas we believe shortchange our city on education and Social Services yet despite all of this there is an additional Revenue that should be utilized to fulfill the essential needs of our city failing to adequately invest in our city and New Yorkers at a time when we're facing so many crises also carries immense risks it could result in families going hungry worsening mental health and housing crises and other far-reaching consequences that impact our economy health and safety those are risks that we simply cannot afford as elected officials our responsibility is to our people the council's budget response seeks to balance these potential risks and avoid the ones that are most likely to hurt everyday New Yorkers I'm proud to say that our budget response is fiscally responsible and accountable to the people of our city it identifies an additional 2.7 billion dollars in potential resources through the end of FY 2024 that can be utilized we designate over half of those resources for the reserves to account for potential risks that may arise that leaves 1.3 billion dollars for the city to invest in essential Services identified in our budget response that were either cut in the mayor's preliminary budget or the council envisioned as important for this very moment this two seven billion dollars is the product of council finances tax revenue product projections exceeding omb's estimates by 2.4 billion dollars in 2023 and 2.8 billion dollars in 2024 and again we account for covering the labor settlements based on the patterns set by DC 37. to be clear Council finance's Revenue projections have been accurate largely resembling those of other Financial entities that make projections like the IBO or the city and state comptrollers on the other hand omb's estimates have typically diverged from others the Investments detailed in the council's budget response fall into four categories that are aligned with this council's priorities the first is building stronger neighborhoods and opportunities which focuses on roughly 318 million dollars towards affordable housing and housing supports for renters nycha and homeowners as well as economic opportunities and neighborhood Aid we're making sure the programs and agencies responsible for housing have the resources they need to help New Yorkers secure affordable and safe homes this includes calls for the mayor to include an additional 3.3 billion dollars in the capital plan for affordable housing that he committed to which helps us reach four billion dollars per year including for nycha a reversal of cuts to nycha's operating budget restoring the 33 million dollars to the vacant unit Readiness program taken out in the November plan given the significant uptick in vacant nycha apartments that have skyrocketed from 490 in 2021 to over 3 300 in 2022. a major investment of nearly 58 million dollars to expand Supportive Housing for people with Justice System involvement as a way to reduce the jail population and recidivism by helping people successfully re-enter communities with Supportive Services the second is ensuring the delivery of essential city services which is focused on getting our agencies that deliver critical Services back on track and making sure we're supporting the Services New Yorkers need we are recommending 474.3 million dollars to increase resources for right to counsel and public defenders restore funding cuts to our libraries cultural institutions parks and sanitation that were cut in the preliminary budget restore cuts to City phep's housing vouchers expand food assistance at this time of heightened food insecurity deliver more accessibility for our older adults and ensure the oversight agencies that investigate corruption and misconduct like DOI ccrb the board of Correction and others are adequately funded additionally we must fix agency operations that are an obstacle to delivering essential services to New Yorkers these problems are a function of the high number of vacancies we have in key agencies which has led to housing and food insecurity due to delays in processing food stamp and housing voucher applications we're working with the administration to address understaffing through co-sponsored hiring events across the city we urge New Yorkers to attend these hiring halls and apply for the many jobs available at the city to Aid with recruitment we will work to remove the barriers that stand in the way of agency hiring and we will continue to advance pay parity in our Municipal Workforce like EMS and at the FDNY which remains a priority for this Council we also have to make sure to resolve outstanding payments to City contracted non-profit service providers which continues to be a problem to resolve the inefficiencies with agency operations we have to invest and ensure budgeted funds are being released and utilized towards staff capacity where we need them most our third priority is to improve community health and safety which is focused on access to health care this includes a strategy to confront our Mental Health crisis which we'll be rolling out with our mental health committee chair Linda Lee through a mental health roadmap this Council has been laser focused on effective community-based Safety Solutions that are too often overlooked because of narrow ideas about how to achieve Public Safety these comprehensive Investments are what the city needs to make for our Collective safety to address our Mental Health crisis and to close Rikers Island we know that people with mental health challenges are less safe when they don't receive the appropriate response and care and come into contact with the criminal justice system as we continue to reiterate half of the people on Rikers Island have a mental health diagnosis which has turned Rikers into a de facto mental health facility too many communities in our city still lack access to Comprehensive Health Care health and safety go together and Investments That draw from evidence-based interventions are how we can stop crime and violence we have identified 117 million dollars in physical and mental health Investments and Safety Solutions that we believe can help get our city on the right track we're looking to invest in community-based violence prevention programs and enhance the first in-state trauma recovery centers we helped establish last year to help stop cycles of violence and support underserved Crime Victims in their recovery we're calling for expanded investments in a series of community-based models that rely on mental health professionals and peers to meet people where they are this approach approach is most effective at averting and addressing a crisis before it worsens and these include expanding crisis respite centers that are an alternative to hospitalization expansion of assertive Community treatment or act a.c.t teams that provide case management to individuals including those who have been involved in the justice system and growing intensive mobile treatment teams that provide in-depth and continuous support and treatment to individuals in their own communities to reduce recidivism we call for increased investments in alternatives to incarceration that are proven to work and an expansion of diversion programs so people with mental health challenges are getting the treatment they need instead of ending up in jail together with our Supportive Housing model these are the kinds of Investments we need to make to get back on track to closing Rikers so it no longer undermines safety in our city we also want to expand school-based mental health clinics to support our students at 100 additional schools because we know Mental Health Services among our young people are so needed right now and we're also recommending that the executive budget includes support for every H H hospital to have a reproductive health psychologist to support the mental health needs of parents during and after childbirth to address issues of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders like postpartum depression the fourth priority is education which are let off our finance share outline in addition to any numbers he may want to give you I want to close with this important note as stewards of the city's budget our goal as a council is to pass a budget that accurately reflects our City's needs through a realistic and balanced financial plan one that meets the needs of our City and New Yorkers fiscal responsibility means accounting for risks but also investing to support the essential services that help the city and help our people to succeed in service of all New Yorkers the council is focused on building stronger neighborhoods and opportunities ensuring delivery of essential city services improving community health and safety and safeguarding education and learning opportunities the health safety and well-being of our city our communities and our economy are all bound to how well we deliver a budget that achieves these principles as we continue with the budget process we look forward to working together in the council with the administration the partners outside of government and all New Yorkers to move our city forward for everyone in it thank you thank you let me introduce you my goodness we want to hear from our finance chair Justin Brennan thank you speaker thank you Deputy speaker I I want to again thank uh everyone that works so hard behind the scenes the entire Finance team for all their long hours and hard work and getting this done right up until late last night um and of course all my colleagues on BNT the budget negotiating team hard-working taxpayers measure the return on their investment through efficient delivery of essential government services more than simply an itemized list of income and expenditures a budget is a moral manifest that's why we believe sound fiscal stewardship means focusing budget priorities where they matter most from maintaining funding to 3K to restoring cuts and investing in CUNY from expanding rental vouchers to clean streets from funding libraries to filling potholes everything in this budget response is something that the council believes is worth fighting for the council remains laser focused on investing in opportunities for New Yorkers through economic and Workforce supports and neighborhood reinforcements expanding Fair fares to more New Yorkers at 200 percent of the federal poverty level creating a fire safety Outreach and battery swap program for deliveriestas in the aftermath of our recent legislation legislative package in order to take dangerous batteries out of circulation and facilitate access to safer batteries we're supporting Workforce Development programs for our City's mwbes we're prioritizing Equitable investments in Street safety infrastructure that have been lacking in so many out of borough communities like mine where infrastructure Investments have not kept pace with increased traffic violence council is calling on the administration to maintain 3K funding and convert seats to extended day and extended year we want to provide pay parity for 3K in early childhood education providers the council wants school budget transparency in order to protect student learning we want to fully fund Arts education in public schools and provide increased support for our community schools as the council heads into another round of budget negotiations we do so seeking partnership with the administration and with eyes wide open to the challenges on the horizon and at our doorstep the council has never doubted the durability of our City's economy but we know resilience doesn't happen on its own it requires thoughtful meaningful and tangible Investments we have what we need to spend and save and we must do both New Yorkers don't run and hide we stand and fight the city's best days are ahead of us you can count out New York City at your own peril with a laser focus on equity and efficiency the council can maintain public trust and truly build a city that works for everyone thank you [Applause] okay thank you she meant that thank you I did want to ask I know that the main I guess disparity in terms of money according to the report is the tax revenue projection um is that correct could you just explain a little bit further whether tends to be a disparity between the council's projections and then omb's projections and if you've kind of figured out why yeah well like I mentioned uh in my remarks there has usually been that difference um we tend to be a lot more optimistic when it comes to the city budget OMB typically is more uh conservative when it comes to the Outlook of the city Budget on top of that also we did find uh other uh funding which we mentioned as well in our projection and taking a look at the bigger picture for the budget as well so all things considered uh the council's projection ibo's projection the comptroller's projections we believe that we've got the right picture as far as the fiscal responsibility is concerned who I guess who turns out to be right in that production is there like a talent Finance team would you like to it is it is usually the council that tends to be correct speaker um what do you make of the mayor's threats that additional budget cuts are on the horizon especially as you just as Katie just asked you have more money that you guys found but do you think that that's realistic that more pegs could be on the horizon you know we are hearing that we haven't seen anything yet though so until and unless we can see something tangible something that we have to address concretely we can't really give a statement to the hypothetical unless we have it in hand but we have heard the same thing where have you heard that I mean of course essential Services right fire police I haven't heard I haven't heard anything I've just heard in the air that more pigs are coming and that's pretty much all that I've heard sorry one more question the migrant crisis the mayor has said a billion dollars this fiscal year it's going to balloon to 4.2 in two years right um do you think any of the money that you guys have identified would go towards that that need oh absolutely we have definitely addressed the Asylum Seeker crisis for the city within this budget absolutely thank you [Applause] cuts to libraries Human Resources Administration give us an idea is that like across the board for everything the premier is proposing cups for we have to take a closer look at it of course we're still in deliberation this is the kickoff of the response so we're going to take a look at the big picture we know that these essential Services should not be cut our children look toward us where Elders look toward us to make sure that they do have safe spaces in our libraries and other places across the city so that is this council's uh opportunity and Our intention to make those things right for the people right where does um the NYPD overtime budget fit into all this and and what do you want to see done with that moving forward how should that situation be addressed thank you for that question you know there really is nothing physically responsible about routinely exceeding a budget we have to rein it in when it comes to overtime in the NYPD and we're going to continue to press the issue throughout the entire budget process it's something that the council agrees that we cannot let go ignored and we will not we will continue to press the issue does it require as you know the police Union has said hiring more cops or you know I know there's kind of a cost benefit with hang eot and not taking on the benefits that that you know are paid um over decades as opposed to um you know not paying dot not pay so much OT like what's kind of your sense on where the happy me and that lies it's going to have to be quite frankly a change in Behavior Uh the behavior that's gone on now for a very very long time and we saw very clearly in our oversight hearings that this is a behavior that has continued year after year after year it's incoming of upon us now to help the agency Reign that in thank you thank you [Applause] are you gonna wait until executive comes out are you meeting with them now can you give a sense of what's going on behind the scenes yeah thank you Joe for that question we are in ongoing meetings of course uh with the administration uh our finance teams are meeting uh on a Continuum and we're going to continue to do so um until we get to that happy place um in getting the right budget for the people so the meetings are ongoing um I have no timeline for you as far as when we do um we would like to maintain the Integrity you know of passing a budget in a timely fashion and that's pretty much all I have for you for that one um you know the mayor talks about some of the same priorities he wants you know to provide education housing Public Safety could you just talk a little bit about how your perspective differs from his like why are you coming up with different priorities than him I really can't answer that I don't know um what the thought process is um I what my belief is that the bottom line is um is at the money for the administration and how the funds or uh projected uh lack of funding coming into the city is taking its place of course the Asylum Seeker crisis has put an extraordinary burden on the entire city of New York and that has played a tremendous role as well I believe in the budget process also particularly for the administration uh we just happen to have once again a more optimistic Outlook and forecast when it comes to our budgeting our finance unit has been doing this for a very very long time we have some of the best economists in the world as far as I'm concerned in doing this work behind the scenes for us so I firmly believe you know in the work of this Council and truly in our finance unit you have a section in the in the response document about finding efficiencies and tax expenditures and sort of taking a second look at old tax breaks that might not be effective anymore I'm just wondering is this sort of a new initiative that you're taking like if the Council made this demand and previous responses to take a closer look at those kinds of programs or is this reflecting sort of a new approach well I think that this is the first time that we're taking such a deep dive into this it it um it is not the first time that the council has taken a look you know at this notion when it comes to taxes and uh and helping helping out New Yorkers and the city and fulfilling what we have to fulfill so um the answer is yes and no it's not the first time that we've taken a look at this but certainly the first time that we've taken this deep a dive into this because of necessity [Applause] thank you colleagues foreign