CM Narcisse questions Comptroller on homeless spending, H&H pension clawback, and reserves

Thank you, Controller, and your team for being here to answer our question.

And thank you, Chair.

On the formal rules for our rainy days, fine.

I will join you definitely.

And don't forget to add epidemic because with crack era and all the things that's hit us in New York City, sometimes we have to take money out, especially the black and brown communities been suffering.

And when we need to address that, I will say we can add that because epidemic is a big deal too.

The homeless service budget is now higher than at the peak of the migrant crisis.

As the office that audits city contracts, are we getting vouchers?

for what we pay when we pay the shelter providers?

That's one.

You noted the budget clause back health hospitals, right?

Share of the pension savings.

I have to ask, what does that do to a system already facing hundreds of million in federal cuts?

The General Reserve next year sit at $100 million.

Is that adequate for a big city like New York City?

Okay.

All really good questions, Madam Chair.

On the homeless services budget, it's gone up a lot for...

First, because we have more people in the shelter system than ever.

We're at over 90,000, I believe, at this point, or close to it, maybe high 80s a night.

And that's helped increase the budget.

But also we're spending more per person.

Now, that is in part because we've been relying on hotels as kind of an emergency stopgap because we don't have enough purpose-built shelters.

And hotels are no one's preferred solution.

They're also very expensive.

This is part of the cost.

But maybe implied in your question is I do think we need to scrutinize the contracts with providers and make sure that we have performance metrics.

And that we're getting good value for our money.

This is something that I would like us to focus on and would love for you to work on as well.

You asked a question about

H&H.

So there are some savings in here related to the fact that the pension re-amortization also applies to H&H.

That's to use a technical term, they're an obligor.

They also pay into the pension system because they have workers there who are part of it.

And so essentially the idea is that, I believe, the money that they would be saving from the re-amortization would be passed back to the city.

Is that an accurate statement?

Yes.

The amount that the city is assuming in the plan is...

For the first two years, 26 and 27, and it equals health and hospitals pension savings over the course of the life of the plan.

And just very quick on your question about $100 million, this is the in-year reserve.

Okay, this is not the long-term.

Rainy Day Fund, we hope we never used it, right?

I hope the Rainy Day Fund sits there for a long time and we have no more pandemics.

But the in-year reserve could be used any day and goes up and down a lot.

And we're going to start the year with only $100 million.

That is an unprecedented low number.

And so the answer to your question is no, I do not think that is adequate.

Thank you.

Okay, great.