Chair Lee questions OMB on Office of Community Safety structure and funding
Lee asks about OCS's restructuring and future funding needs. Solomon explains $260 million moved from existing offices into OCS, plus $41 million in new dollars for FY27 bringing the total to $271 million, with additional investments expected in out years.
And just while you're on that topic with OCS, because I know that this came up in a
a few of the city agency hearings that we have throughout the budget process where I think there's just a lot of questions and confusion around OCS and what that's going to look like.
And so I know that there's a whole restructuring that's happening.
And my understanding, correct me if I'm wrong,
is that we're sort of taking programs that were under perhaps different city agencies and putting it in.
So it's not necessarily new funding that's being allocated, but do you know if there will be increased funding required for OCS in the future?
And how does it look like right now in terms of the coordination, staffing, all of those things?
Sure.
So the creation of the Office of Community Safety is really an exciting step for the administration to be able to move forward in this space, be able to create an office in City Hall under a new deputy mayor.
And so what we initially were doing was taking $260 million that were from existing offices.
That would come under the umbrella of the Office of Community Safety.
So, you know, the Office of Community Mental Health, the Office of the End...
GBV.
Exactly.
And so that was the 2026 number of $260 million.
What you have in 2027, there was a drop-off based on grants that did not extend into fiscal 27.
So we've invested...
$41 million in new dollars so that the overall budget as it stands for fiscal 27 is $271 million for the Office of Community Safety.
Clearly, we're going to want to build on that as we move forward, but there was money added to go beyond the $260 that we said we were taking in in fiscal 26.
Yeah, because my end.
I know up until now it's been, you know, just sort of reshuffled funding, but my understanding was that it would eventually require more funding in out years.
And so next year for FY27, you're saying $41 million.
And then do you know in future out years how much that will increase?
In future out years, we are looking at additional investments as the office takes further shape and the vision of Deputy Mayor Francois continues to take hold.
Sorry, I took a little curve.