Mamdani’s budget has soared to nearly $130 billion – as the mayor falls far short of savings reduction targets

The Big Apple’s budget has soared to nearly $130 billion this year – as the Mamdani administration continues to fall short of its savings targets, officials said Thursday.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that the city’s budget increased by more than $3 billion to $129.2 billion, according to City Hall’s mid-year financial update, a long-standing requirement for officials to balance the budget throughout the year.

The newly amended financial plan also shows nearly $1 billion in unexpected tax revenue due to a booming Wall Street since June alone.

The Mamdani administration has yet to release a comprehensive savings plan that shows how city agencies will achieve the 2.5 percent reductions ordered by the mayor.

Thursday’s announcement included a paltry $429 million in cuts for the fiscal year, or 0.33 percent of the revised spending plan.

The city’s Department of Education is expected to spend more than $400 million more than budgeted for in the previous budget.

The mayor had pledged to cut $13 billion in spending on outside contractors, but the only savings the DOE found was $19 million in “lower than expected” spending on school security officers.

Mamdani nonetheless praised the spending plan as reflecting “fiscal responsibility and public excellence.”

“We are investing in the essential services New Yorkers rely on to protect their health, safety and well-being, while pursuing an aggressive savings plan to put our city on a stronger financial footing so it can meet the expectations of generations to come,” he said.

While the mayor’s office said it had $2.5 million in savings, its overall budget is expected to increase by $3 million.

The city still faces a budget deficit of $6.2 billion next year and about $9 billion the following two years.

Thursday’s financial update came with a $3.3 billion increase in city spending compared to the $125.8 billion budget passed for fiscal year 2027 in June.

City Hall said the increase represents a mix of new spending, with $1.15 billion coming from city coffers, $1.48 billion from the federal government and $635 million injected by the state.

Mamdani issued an order at the start of his term for municipal agencies to achieve 2.5% savings across the board in each municipal agency.

But that administrator refused to release details of those plans, rejecting dozens of records requests, although the mayor said they would be made public.

Mamdani’s first budget in office ballooned by more than $10 billion from the spending plan approved in Eric Adams’ final year as mayor.

“This is an update, not a plan to stabilize the budget,” said Andrew Rein of the nonprofit Citizens Budget Commission.

“Unfortunately, four months after the mayor asked agencies to make savings, what is included is only a small fraction of the goal,” Rein added. “Only a quarter of these actions aim to increase government efficiency, where the focus should be on savings and preserving services. »