September 6, 2022
Mayor Eric Adams: Good morning as properly. And I wish to acknowledge the presence and thank a superb buddy, state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, Comptroller Brad Lander — metropolis comptroller, and the non-public members, Secretary of State Rossana Rosado, Steven Cohen, and my longtime buddy William Thompson. I wish to thanks all. I wish to thank the City Council for his or her partnership and the members of my staff who’re right here with me at this time, each First Deputy Mayor Lorraine Grillo and Budget Director Jacques Jiha.
The adopted plan follows the guidepost I set down in January. This contains selling town’s financial restoration, constructing and sustaining funds reserves, attaining funds financial savings, utilizing assets effectively and lifting New Yorkers and dealing households. The backside line is that we’re boosting the restoration and growing resiliencies like by no means earlier than.
If we have been to begin with final 12 months, fiscal 12 months 2022 ended with a $6.1 billion surplus that we used to prepay present 12 months bills. As previously, we used the hole closing technique to steadiness the $101.1 billion fiscal 12 months 2023 adopted funds. Our out 12 months gaps are manageable, falling under the 20 12 months common as a proportion of metropolis funds spending. Cautiously estimating, income is the cornerstone of our fiscal administration technique and protects the restoration by guaranteeing that we responsibly meet wants as they come up. At adoption, we adjusted our fiscal 12 months 2023 income forecast upwards to mirror a $1.5 billion in extra tax income. This progress was pushed by the impression of file degree of Wall Street exercise in 2021 on private earnings taxes. We use these extra revenues to prepay bills and scale back the present fiscal 12 months funds 12 months hole. They additionally have been the important thing to strengthening our reserves. Our planning should acknowledge that we face uncertainty, and I simply actually wish to emphasize that. We face uncertainty sooner or later.
I agree with my pals right here at this time that constructing and sustaining funds reserves as a buffer towards the surprising is a essential precedence. So at adoption, we partnered with the City Council to extend reserves by $2 billion, which is the most important single contribution to reserves within the metropolis’s historical past. There is now $1.9 billion within the rainy-day fund, $4.5 billion within the retiree well being advantages belief, and $1.6 billion within the common reserves in addition to $250 million within the capital stabilization reserve. The $8.3 billion we’ve got put aside and reserved is a file degree and exceeds 10% of metropolis’s funds income for the primary time, which is a benchmark acknowledged by ranking companies and financial screens.
On high of constructing and sustaining reserves, we’ve got remained dedicated to lowering headcount and attaining financial savings. Through our strict headcount and attrition administration, we’ve got lowered worker headcount to only underneath 304,000. This is 23,000 decrease than town’s peak in September 2019. As I’ve made clear, I’ll maintain pushing metropolis authorities to be extra environment friendly and use taxpayers’ {dollars} properly.
In this funds cycle, we put aside extra assets to defray the price of upcoming labor negotiations. By including practically $4.7 billion to the labor reserve throughout the monetary plan, we’ve got now funded 1.25 % annual wage improve for metropolis staff. Now, we’re clear that that is the start, not an ending. However, whereas we’re dedicated to paying honest wages, we is not going to make offers that town can not afford.
Further, as monetary situations have modified dramatically because the top of the pandemic, we’ve got eliminated unallocated labor financial savings from the monetary plan outyears. While this grows out years gaps, it extra actually displays the present monetary situation that we face. On high of sturdy fiscal administration, to completely get well we should make town safer and cleaner and assist members of our group who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
We’re making an attempt to deliver New Yorkers again to this necessary degree. We do not wish to return to the best way it was. We wish to take it to the place the place it ought to be, a spot the place everybody throughout the 5 boroughs has alternative and would thrive and prosper. To get this executed, we made commitments to subway security, expanded summer time jobs and enrichment alternatives for youth, and are connecting much more at-risk New Yorkers with inexperienced jobs. Recognizing the significance of our human and authorized providers suppliers we have been on the entrance traces through the pandemic — they have been on the entrance traces through the pandemic, we baselined a contract adjustment. To assist working households, we labored with the governor — and I wish to thanks, governor, and the state lawmakers — to broaden the New York City Earned Income tax income and credit score and offered incentives for employers and property house owners to create extra childcare choices citywide. And as a result of very important public areas are so necessary to the restoration, we made important investments to maintain our streets and parks cleaner, safer, and extra inviting. These investments have been made attainable by our dedication to attaining funds financial savings and the prudent use of extra revenues.
To conclude, I’m proud to say that town has met all necessities imposed by the Financial Emergency Act and that our monetary plan advances the restoration, is fiscally accountable, and builds a stronger and extra resilient New York. Rating companies assist our method. In May, Fitch Ratings singled out our dedication to constructing and sustaining file ranges of reserves and upgraded town’s scores from secure to constructive for the primary time in additional than a decade. And our economic system continues to strengthen creating jobs at a fast tempo. We have now recovered greater than 80 % of jobs misplaced within the top of the pandemic and anticipate a full restoration inside two years.
So I wish to thanks for this chance to talk with you at this time and for the necessary work for town and the folks of this metropolis and the long run. Thank you very a lot. Thank you, governor.
(Other members of the board communicate.)
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Governor Kathy Hochul: … Mayor Adams, would you want to reply to these feedback? You simply obtained a pleasant praise.
Mayor Adams: We have — and I thanks comptroller, as an individual who has been right here watching these difficult financial occasions. And the uncertainties are actual, and I believe what’s paramount, typically New Yorkers do not understand once they have navigated troublesome waters. This governor has needed to cope with all the pieces from the pandemic to monkeypox, to polio, to crime, the financial uncertainties. And regardless of that, the individuality of getting a relationship the place a governor and the mayor like one another and we’re keen to work with one another — as a result of that is the one approach we’re going to get by way of this for New Yorkers and town and the state to be united.
And the comptroller touched on it — we’ve got to be clear — we’re coming into unsure waters. And if we’re not collectively, then New Yorkers are going to be impacted. And we’re going to be forthright, sincere, clear. We’re going to let New Yorkers know what we face and among the troublesome moments that we’ve got, however we’re going to get by way of this. We are resilient, we’re New Yorkers. 2001 — we centered on 9/11. I give attention to 9/12. We obtained up. And when New Yorkers obtained up, the nation obtained up and we’re right here once more. And I’m assured that we’ll stand up once more. Thank you.
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