Brad Lander Calls for $1B to Protect Against Federal Funding Cuts in Plan for a Fiscally Responsible City Hall
As the city’s fiscal watchdog, Lander outlines a plan to both make the best use of taxpayer dollars while strengthening the foundation of NYC’s coffers
NEW YORK, NY — While City Hall remains largely agnostic on President Donald Trump’s federal overreach into New York City’s budget, New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander today called for $1 billion in city reserves in Fiscal Year 2026’s budget to protect against potential federal funding cuts, and laid out a comprehensive path for a more fiscally responsible City Hall, in his campaign’s latest in-depth plan to make New York City better-run.
“New Yorkers simultaneously don’t trust that their hard-earned tax dollars are being spent effectively by our current city administration — or that they won’t be illegally retracted by the federal government run by a man who calls himself ‘king,’” said Brad Lander. “DOGE is a reckless gimmick disguised as government efficiency. My plan outlines a smart path forward to do the most with the resources we already have, addressing concerns of bloated bureaucracy while fiscally protecting ourselves from the wrath of the corrupt cronies sitting in City Hall or the White House.”
Over $100 billion flows from Washington to New York City for a wide variety of government programs, nonprofit services, healthcare, and income security for individuals. To ensure that the biggest city in the country is protected from the federal government’s turmoil and stands up to the dictatorial whims of President Trump, as Mayor, Lander will:
Add at least $1 billion to the City’s General Reserve to create a “Protecting NYC” reserve that specifically addresses urgent funding needs that could arise from federal funding cuts. While the City will not be able to backstop all federal funding losses, the City should be stockpiling some resources to protect our schools and other critical programming over the next four years.
Convene civic, business, labor, religious, and community leaders to discuss how to best prepare to protect New York City and those who may be targeted by the policies of the Trump Administration.
Convene a Joint City/State Emergency Task Force to evaluate impacts and responses in real time and take legal action when appropriate to stop illegal money grabbing, unlawful funding requirements and breaching of contracts.
Continue to publicly message that New Yorkers send more money to Washington in taxes than what we collectively receive back in benefits. It continues to be our tax dollars, our democracy, and our future that are at stake.
New York City is the largest contracting jurisdiction in the country, yet over 8-in-10 contracts were registered late in FY24, and the problem is even worse for non-profits where 9-in-10 contracts are late. As Mayor, Lander will ensure that non-profit human service providers, MWBEs, and other vendors get paid on time by:
Adopting prompt contracting timelines for each step of the procurement process.
Launching ContractStat to publicly report regularly on how well each contracting and oversight agency is complying with those timelines — a longstanding promise from City Hall.
Establishing deadlines for paying vendors on time: setting a formal 90-day maximum reimbursement timeframe for City contractors and requiring interest penalties for delayed payments, as recommended by the Human Services Council.
Deadlines work, at least under Lander’s leadership: the Comptroller’s office has met its 30-day deadline for approving or returning contracts on every single one of the over 70,000 contracts it has reviewed this term.
Also outlined in the plan to make City Hall fiscally responsible again, Mayor Lander will:
Mandate requirements for annual deposits into the City’s Rainy Day Fund.
Make efficiency reviews and long-term savings plans a regular feature of the budget process.
Hold agencies accountable for judgments and claims against the city.
Ensure that debt service does not exceed 15 percent of city tax revenues.
Modernize the city’s approach to infrastructure assessment, capital planning, and budgeting.
The results of the abovementioned plans include more robust fiscal reserves to better withstand economic recessions and federal funding cuts, stronger debt management discipline and agency accountability to improve fiscal responsibility, and, finally, timely payments to the city’s contractors.
Read Lander’s plan for A Fiscally Responsible City Hall here.
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