Mayor de Blasio, Speaker Mark-Viverito, City Council Reach Early Agreement on Balanced FY2017 Budget, Marking Earliest Handshake Since 2001

June 8, 2016

Video available at: https://youtu.be/7CuSxSpc0SM

Agreement makes targeted investments to lift up families across the city, while protecting City’s fiscal health

Highlights include investments in cultural organizations and libraries, expansion of summer youth employment, new funding for district attorneys, while further boosting reserves and expanding citywide savings program

NEW YORK—Mayor Bill de Blasio, Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and members of the City Council today announced an agreement for an on-time and balanced City budget for Fiscal Year 2017, marking completion of the earliest budget deal since 2001. The agreement on an approximately $82.1 billion budget – comparable in size to the Preliminary and Executive Budgets due to additional savings – makes targeted investments in cultural organizations and libraries, youth workforce development and public safety, while strengthening the City’s long-term fiscal health through the bolstering of unprecedented reserve funds and an even larger Citywide Savings Program.

“This budget is not only on time – it’s the earliest agreement since 2001, because the administration and Council worked together to produce tangible, timely results for New Yorkers. We’ll grow to 60,000 slots in our Summer Youth Employment Program, continue six-day library service, invest in our cultural institutions, provide our district attorneys with the funds they need to continue combating crime and addressing heroin and prescription drug use, all while protecting the City’s fiscal health,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Thank you to Speaker Mark-Viverito and all of her colleagues in the Council for their partnership as we reached this agreement.”

The FY17 Adopted Budget keeps out-year gaps at low, manageable levels, while growing reserves and expanding the Citywide Savings Plan.

The budget agreement includes unprecedented reserves, including an additional $250 million in the Retiree Health Benefits Trust Fund to grow the fund to $3.9 billion, as well as $1 billion every year in General Reserve, and $500 million in the Capital Stabilization Reserve.
In addition, the Adopted Budget will include approximately $440 million more in savings. Taken together with the Preliminary and Executive Budget Savings, the Citywide Savings Plan now totals more than $2.7 billion — the largest spending reduction program in the last five years.

Among a variety of initiatives, today’s agreement includes:

• $39 million a year in baselined funding for the Summer Youth Employment program, which provides youth employment and work readiness to youth ages 14-24, allowing the program to grow to an unprecedented level of 60,000 slots this summer, up from 50,000 last summer.
• $21 million a year in additional baselined funding to continue six-day service at public libraries.
• $22 million a year in new city funding for FY17 and beyond for all five district attorneys $5 million in FY17 for the Emergency Food Assistance Program, allowing for a 40 percent increase in the purchase to support the needs of 450 food pantries and community kitchens throughout the City.
• $3 million in additional funding to continue Vision Zero public outreach campaigns.
• $10 million in FY17 in additional funding for cultural organizations.
• $1.7 million in FY17 to extend beach and pool season one week past Labor Day at a variety of beaches and pools citywide.
• $17.5 million in FY17 for 26,000 summer seats for middle school youth.
• $17.6 million in FY17 to provide elementary after-school programming for 9,000 children.
• $1.8 million in baselined funding for senior case management, aimed at addressing the waitlist for the Department for the Aging’s case management program, which provides support to 20,000 low-income and homebound seniors.

Budget monitors and rating agencies have highlighted this administration strong budgetary management and protection of the City’s fiscal health.