Section 225. Budgetary responsibilities of the mayor, the director of management and budget and the comptroller.
Section 225-a. Citywide participatory budgeting.
The mayor shall, consistent with this charter and other applicable law, establish a program to be implemented no later than the fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2020, to promote the participation of residents in identifying and expressing preferences among recommendations for local projects in their communities, and shall consider such projects for inclusion in the executive budget. The council, borough presidents, community boards, and city agencies shall, to the extent practicable, coordinate with the mayor and the civic engagement commission in implementing such program established pursuant to this section and section 3202.
Section 226. Fiscal year.
The fiscal year of the city shall commence on the first day of July in each year and shall terminate at midnight on the ensuing thirtieth day of June.
Section 227. Spending pursuant to appropriations.
(1) if at any time the council shall fail to make an appropriation for the payment of debt service on any debts of the city as they fall due, or for the payments to the several sinking funds, the commissioner of finance shall set apart, from the first revenues thereafter received applicable to the general fund of the city, a sum sufficient to pay such amounts and shall so apply such sum; and
(2) money, the ownership and equitable title of which belongs to an individual, corporation, organization or government other than the city and which is being held by any agency or officer of the city pending transfer of such money to such individual, corporation, organization or government in accordance with the terms and conditions pursuant to which it was placed in the custody of such agency or officer, may be transferred to such individual, corporation, organization or government by such agency or officer without an appropriation by law, provided such transfers are made in accordance with such terms and conditions; and
(3) money or other financial resources may only be transferred from one fund to another without specific statutory authorization for such a transfer if that money or those other financial resources are being loaned temporarily to such other fund and an accurate accounting and reporting of the balance of financial resources in each fund and of the amount due by each fund to each other fund is made at the end of each month; and
(4) grants or gifts from private entities exempt from the requirements of this section, and expenditures of such funds, shall be subject to disclosure, at least annually, by the responsible agency, officer or entity in a form and containing such information as the mayor shall prescribe for this purpose by rule.
Section 228. Draft ten-year capital strategy.
Not later than the first day of November in each even-numbered year, the director of management and budget and the director of city planning shall jointly submit to the mayor, the council, the borough presidents and the city planning commission a draft ten-year capital strategy prepared in accordance with the provisions of section two hundred fifteen.
Section 229. Revenue reports of the comptroller and mayor.
Section 230. Community board budget priorities.
Section 231. Departmental estimates.
Section 232. Report of the comptroller on capital debt and obligations.
Not later than the first day of December, the comptroller shall submit to the mayor, the council and the city planning commission a report, which shall be published forthwith in the City Record, setting forth the amount and nature of all obligations authorized on account of each pending capital project and the liabilities incurred for each such project outstanding on the first day of July and setting forth and commenting in detail upon the city’s financial condition and advising as to the maximum amount and nature of debt and reserves which in the comptroller’s opinion the city may soundly incur for capital projects during each of the four succeeding fiscal years, and containing such other information relevant to this subject as may be required by local law, by the mayor by executive order, or which the comptroller deems necessary and relevant.
Section 233. Report of the comptroller on the state of the city’s finances.
Not later than the fifteenth day of December, the comptroller shall report to the council, at a stated meeting of the council, on the state of the city’s economy and finances, including evaluations of the city’s financial plan, as most recently updated by the mayor in accordance with section two hundred fifty-eight, and the assumptions on which the revenue and expenditure forecasts contained therein are based.
Section 234. City planning commission hearing and statement on the draft ten-year capital strategy.
Not later than the sixteenth day of January in each odd numbered year, the city planning commission shall submit to the mayor, the borough presidents and the council a report containing its comments on the draft ten-year capital strategy submitted in accordance with section two hundred twenty-eight of this chapter, including such recommendations as it deems appropriate. The city planning commission, in the preparation of such report, shall, upon adequate public notice, hold a public hearing at which interested organizations and individuals may express their opinions regarding the draft ten-year capital strategy.
Section 235. Preliminary certificate of the mayor on capital debt and obligations.
No later than the sixteenth day of January, the mayor shall submit to the council, the comptroller, the borough presidents and the city planning commission and publish a preliminary certificate setting forth the maximum amount of debt and reserves which, in the mayor’s opinion, the city may soundly incur for capital projects during the ensuing fiscal year and during each of the following three fiscal years, and the maximum amount of appropriations and expenditures for capital projects which the city, given such maximum amount of debt and reserves, may soundly make during each such fiscal year. At any time up to the submission of the executive capital budget to the council, the mayor may amend such preliminary certificate. Any such amendments shall be submitted to the council, the comptroller, the borough presidents and the city planning commission, and published forthwith in the City Record.
Section 236. Submission of the preliminary budget.
Not later than the sixteenth day of January, the mayor shall submit to the council and publish a preliminary budget for the ensuing fiscal year. Copies of such budget shall be provided to the council, borough presidents, each community board and borough board, the city planning commission, and the department of city planning. A copy of such preliminary budget shall also be provided to the council not later than the sixteenth day of January in both a human-readable format or spreadsheet and in a non-proprietary format or spreadsheet that permits automated processing and renders such data capable of being downloaded in bulk or any other format mutually agreed upon between the mayor and the council.
Section 237. Report of independent budget office on revenues and expenditures.
On or before the first day of February, the director of the independent budget office shall publish a report, for the ensuing fiscal year, with respect to expected levels of revenues and expenditures, taking into account projected economic factors and the proposals contained in the preliminary budget submitted by the mayor for such fiscal year. Such report shall also include a discussion of city budget priorities, including alternative ways of allocating the total amount of appropriations, expenditures and commitments for such fiscal year among major programs or functional categories taking into account how such alternative allocations will meet major city needs and effect balanced growth and development in the city.
Section 238. Community board review of preliminary budget.
Not later than the fifteenth day of February, each community board shall submit to the mayor, the council, director of management and budget, the appropriate borough president and each member of the borough board of the borough in which the community board is located, a statement containing the community board’s assessment of the responsiveness of the preliminary budget to its statement of budget priorities submitted pursuant to section two hundred thirty and any other comments or recommendations which it wishes to make in regard to the preliminary budget.
Section 239. Estimate of assessed valuation, and statement of taxes due and uncollected by the commissioner of finance.
Not later than the fifteenth day of February, the commissioner of finance shall submit to the mayor and to the council:
Section 240. Tax Benefit Report.
Not later than the fifteenth day of February the mayor shall submit to the council a tax benefit report which shall include:
a. a listing of all exclusions, exemptions, abatements, credits or other benefits allowed against city tax liability, against the base or the rate of, or the amount due pursuant to, each city tax, provided however that such listing need not include any benefits which are applicable without any city action to such city tax because they are available in regard to a federal or state tax on which such city tax is based; and
b. a description of each tax benefit included in such listing, providing the following information:
1. the legal authority for such tax benefit;
2. the objectives of, and eligibility requirements for, such tax benefit;
3. such data and supporting documentation as are available and meaningful regarding the number and kind of taxpayers using benefits pursuant to such tax benefit and the total amount of benefits used pursuant to such tax benefit, by taxable and/or fiscal year;
4. for each tax benefit pursuant to which a taxpayer is allowed to claim benefits in one year and carry them over for use in one or more later years, the number and kind of taxpayers carrying forward benefits pursuant to such tax benefit and the total amount of benefits carried forward, by taxable and/or fiscal year;
5. for nineteen hundred ninety and each year thereafter for which the information required by paragraphs three and four are not available, the reasons therefor, the steps being taken to provide such information as soon as possible, and the first year for which such information will be available;
6. such data and supporting documentation as are available and meaningful regarding the economic and social impact and other consequences of such tax benefit; and
7. a listing and summary of all evaluations and audits of such tax benefit issued during the previous two years.
Section 241. Borough board preliminary budget hearings.
Not later than the twenty-fifth day of February each borough board shall submit a comprehensive statement on the budget priorities of the borough to the mayor, council, and director of management and budget. Each borough board, in the preparation of this statement, shall, upon adequate public notice, hold one or more public hearings on the preliminary budget, to obtain the views and recommendations of the community boards within the borough, residents of the borough and others with substantial interests in the borough, on the proposals contained in the preliminary budget and on the capital and service needs of the borough. Officers of agencies, when requested by the borough board, shall appear and be heard.
Section 242. Statement of debt service by the comptroller.
Not later than the first day of March, the comptroller shall submit to the mayor and to the council a certified statement which shall be published forthwith in the City Record and which shall contain a schedule of the appropriations required during the ensuing fiscal year for debt service, including appropriations to the several sinking funds as required by law, and such other information as may be required by law.
Section 243. The operating budget of the council.
Not later than the tenth day of March, the council shall approve and submit to the mayor detailed itemized estimates of the financial needs of the council for the ensuing fiscal year. Such estimates shall be comprised of at least one personal service unit of appropriation and at least one other than personal service unit of appropriation for each standing committee of the council and for each organizational unit established pursuant to section forty-five of this charter. The mayor shall include such estimates in the executive budget without revision, but with such recommendations as the mayor may deem proper.
Section 244. Preparation of the executive budget.
In preparing the executive budget to be submitted in accordance with section two hundred forty-nine, the mayor shall consult with the borough presidents.
Section 245. Borough president recommendations to the mayor.
Section 246. Report of independent budget office on preliminary budget.
On or before the fifteenth day of March, the director of the independent budget office shall publish a report analyzing the preliminary budget for the ensuing fiscal year.
Section 247. Council preliminary budget hearings and recommendations.
Section 248. Ten-year capital strategy.
Not later than the twenty-sixth day of April in each odd-numbered year, the mayor shall issue and publish a ten-year capital strategy, prepared in accordance with the provisions of section two hundred fifteen of this chapter.
Section 249. Submission of the executive budget.
Section 250. The budget message.
The budget message, which shall not be deemed a part of the budget, shall include:
1. An explanation, in summary terms, of the major programs, projects, emphases and objectives of the budget, the general fiscal and economic condition of the city, the tax and fiscal base of the city, and intergovernmental fiscal relations.
2. Itemized information and supporting schedules of positions, salaries and other than personal service expenses, anticipated for the ensuing fiscal year.
3. Recommendations for any changes in the revenue sources and fiscal operations of the city, including intergovernmental revenue and fiscal arrange- ments.
4. An itemized statement of the actual revenues and receipts and accruals of the general fund and of all other revenue sources, including state and federal aid and revenues for specified purposes, for each of the four preceding fiscal years, and for the first eight months of the current fiscal year, and the estimated amount of such items for the balance of the current fiscal year, and for the ensuing fiscal year. In preparing such information the mayor shall consult with the comptroller.
5. An estimate of the probable amount of (1) receipts into the city treasury during the ensuing fiscal year from all the sources of revenue of the general fund and (2) all receipts other than those of the general fund and taxes on real property.
6. A listing of the sources and amounts of all revenues and other monies of a nonrecurring nature that are being proposed to be utilized during the ensuing fiscal year and that are not expected to be available or used in subsequent fiscal years.
7. An update of the four-year financial plan, as set forth in section two hundred fifty-eight of this chapter, containing, (a) for each agency, for all existing programs, forecasts of expenditures for the ensuing fiscal year and the succeeding three fiscal years at existing levels of service; (b) forecasts of revenue by source from existing sources of revenue for the ensuing fiscal year and the succeeding three fiscal years; and (c) for each new or expanded program, an indication of when such program is projected to be fully implemented and a forecast of the annual recurring costs for such program or program expansion after it is fully implemented.
8. For each agency, a comparison of the proposed appropriations for the ensuing fiscal year with (i) the amounts appropriated in the current expense budget as originally adopted and as modified through the first eight months of the current fiscal year, (ii) the amounts actually expended in the previous fiscal year and (iii) the amounts actually expended through the first eight months of the current fiscal year and the estimated expenditures for the balance of the current fiscal year.
9. For each agency that has local service districts within community districts and boroughs, a statement of proposed direct expenditures in each service district for each unit of appropriation and a statement of the basis for the allocation of direct expenditures to local service districts of each such agency.
10. An explanation of principal changes in performance goals and indicators from the date of submission of the preliminary management report to the submission of the proposed executive budget.
11. An itemized statement, covering the city’s entire capital plant, except for those portions of the capital plant which have been committed to the care and control of the board of education or officers or employees thereof, by agency and project type and, within project type, by personal services and other than personal services, of the amounts appropriated for maintenance of such capital plant in the previous and current fiscal years as originally adopted and as modified through the first eight months of the current fiscal year, and of the amounts actually expended for such maintenance in the previous fiscal year and through the first eight months of the current fiscal year and the amounts estimated to be expended for such purpose during the balance of the current fiscal year; and, for each agency, an explanation of the substantive differences, if any, between the amounts actually expended for such maintenance in the previous fiscal year or projected to be expended for such purpose in the current fiscal year and the amounts originally appropriated for such purpose for such years.
12. A presentation of the maintenance activities proposed by the mayor to be completed during the ensuing fiscal year for all major portions of the capital plant, as such terms are defined in subdivision a of section eleven hundred ten-a, categorized by agency and project type; an explanation of the differences, if any, between such proposed activities and the activities scheduled to be undertaken during such fiscal year pursuant to subdivision c of such section; an explanation of the differences, if any, between the proposed appropriations for such activities and the estimates of the amounts submitted, pursuant to subdivision f of such section, as necessary to maintain such portions of the capital plant; and a presentation and explanation of the differences, if any, between the maintenance activities for all major portions of the capital plant proposed by the mayor, in the budget message for the previous fiscal year, to be completed during such fiscal year and the activities actually completed during such fiscal year.
13. A statement of the extent to which the executive budget incorporates the revisions to the preliminary budget suggested by the borough presidents, in accordance with subdivision a of section two hundred forty-five and the reasons why any other suggested revisions were not incorporated in the executive budget.
14. A statement of the modifications, if any, which the mayor recommends that the council make in the appropriations submitted by the borough presidents pursuant to sections one hundred two and two hundred eleven.
15. A statement of any substantive changes in the methodology and assumptions used to determine the revenue estimates presented pursuant to subdivisions four, five and six of this section from the methodology and assumptions presented in the preliminary budget.
16. A statement of the implications for the orderly development of the city, its community districts and boroughs of the capital projects included in or contemplated by the capital budget and program.
17. A certificate setting forth the maximum amount of debt and reserves which, in the mayor’s opinion, the city may soundly incur for capital projects during the ensuing fiscal year and during each of the following three fiscal years, and the maximum amount of appropriations and expenditures for capital projects which the city, given such maximum amount of debt and reserves, may soundly make during each such fiscal year.
Section 251. Borough president recommendations on the executive budget.
Not later than the sixth day of May, each borough president shall submit to the mayor and the council a response to the mayor’s executive budget. Such response shall indicate which of the recommended appropriations submitted by the borough president pursuant to section two hundred forty-five, which were not included by the mayor in the executive budget, should be considered by the council for inclusion in the budget. Any appropriations recommended in this manner for inclusion in the budget shall be accompanied by recommendations for offsetting reductions in other appropriations within the borough. Any such increases or reductions must be stated separately and distinctly and refer each to a single object or purpose.
Section 252. Report of independent budget office on executive budget.
On or before the fifteenth day of May, the director of the independent budget office shall publish a report analyzing the executive budget for the ensuing fiscal year.
Section 253. Executive budget hearings.
Between the sixth day of May and the twenty-fifth day of May, the council shall hold public hearings on the budget as presented by the mayor. The council may hold such hearings either as a body or by its finance committee or other committees. Officers of agencies and representatives of community boards and borough boards shall have the right, and it shall be their duty when requested by the council, to appear and be heard in regard to the executive budget and to the capital and service needs of the communities, boroughs and the city.
Section 254. Amendment and adoption of the executive budget.
Section 255. Veto of the mayor.
Section 256. Appropriation, certification and publication.
Not later than the day after the budget is finally adopted, the budget as finally adopted in such year shall be certified by the mayor, the comptroller and the city clerk as the budget for the ensuing fiscal year, and the several amounts therein specified as appropriations or units of appropriation shall be and become appropriated to the several purposes therein named, whether payable from the tax levy or otherwise and subject to the terms and conditions of the budget. The budget shall thereupon be filed in the offices of the comptroller and the city clerk, and shall be published forthwith. When finally adopted in accordance with sections two hundred fifty-four and two hundred fifty-five, such budget as adopted and as modified during the fiscal year in accordance with sections one hundred seven and two hundred sixteen shall have the force of law.
Section 257. Comparison of adopted budget and ten-year capital strategy.
Not later than thirty days after the budget is finally adopted, the mayor shall prepare a statement of how the capital budget and program as finally adopted vary, if at all, from the ten-year capital strategy, submitted pursuant to section two hundred forty-eight. Such statement shall be published as an appendix to the ten year capital strategy.
Section 258. Standards for budget and financial plan.
(1) For each fiscal year, the city’s budget covering all expenditures other than capital items shall be prepared and balanced so that the results thereof would not show a deficit when reported in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, unless such deficit is offset by funds withdrawn for such purpose from the revenue stabilization fund established pursuant to section one thousand five hundred twenty-eight, and would permit comparison of the budget with the report of actual financial results prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
(2) The city shall issue no obligations which shall be inconsistent with the financial plan prepared in accordance with this section.
(3) Provision shall be made for the payment in full of the debt service on all bonds and notes of the city and for the adequate funding of programs of the city which are mandated by state or federal law and for which obligations are going to be incurred during the fiscal year.
(4) All projections of revenues and expenditures contained in the financial plan shall be based on reasonable and appropriate assumptions and methods of estimation. All cash flow projections shall be based upon reasonable and appropriate assumptions as to sources and uses of cash (including but not limited to the timing thereof), and shall provide for operations of the city to be conducted within the cash resources so projected.
(5) A general reserve shall be provided for each fiscal year to cover potential reductions in projected revenues or increases in projected expenditures during each such fiscal year. The amount provided for such general reserve shall be estimated in accordance with paragraph four of this subdivision, but in no event shall it be less than one hundred million dollars at the beginning of any fiscal year.
(6) In the event that the results of the city’s operations during the preceding fiscal year have not comported with subdivision a of this section, the first fiscal year included in any financial plan shall make provision for the repayment of any deficit incurred by the city during the preceding fiscal year.
(1) The mayor shall, in conjuction with the preliminary budget prepared pursuant to section one hundred one, prepare a financial plan covering the four ensuing fiscal years (the first year of which is the year for which such preliminary budget is being prepared) as well as updating the current fiscal year.
(2) After the preparation by the mayor of a financial plan in accordance with the preceding paragraph, the mayor shall reexamine, at least on a quarterly basis, the projections of revenues and expenditures and other estimates contained in the financial plan, and shall prepare modifications in accordance with the following procedures:
(a) The budget message, issued pursuant to section two hundred fifty of this chapter, shall include an update of the financial plan covering the four ensuing fiscal years (the first year of which is the year for which such budget message is being prepared) as well as an update for the current fiscal year.
(b) Not later than thirty days after the budget is finally adopted, the mayor shall issue an update of the financial plan covering the four ensuing fiscal years (the first year of which shall be the year for which such budget has been adopted) as well as an update for the fiscal year that is ending or has just ended. Such update shall reflect changes which were made in the budget in accordance with sections two hundred fifty-four and two hundred fifty-five; provided, however, that the budget adopted in accordance with such sections shall be consistent with the standards applicable to the financial plan set forth in this section.
(c) During the second quarter of the fiscal year, the mayor shall issue an update of the financial plan covering the fiscal year in which such quarter occurs and the three ensuing fiscal years.
(d) In addition, on such schedule as the mayor deems appropriate, the mayor may issue further updates of the financial plan during the fiscal year.
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