NYC Must Find 2.5% In Additional Savings Across All City Agencies
Editor’s note: We first reported on the Executive Order from Mayor Mamdani for all city agencies to identify savings across their operations here. See Mayor Mamdani’s announcement about this new effort below the council member’s statement:
Wong Statement on Mayor Mamdani’s Savings Announcement
New York, NY — Council Member Phil Wong (D-Queens), a member of the New York City Council Finance Committee, released the following statement on Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s announcement directing city agencies to identify 2.5% in budget savings:
“Identifying waste and improving efficiency is a good step, especially this early in the administration, but it’s odd to hear about new savings targets just weeks after we were told the FY27 budget was balanced and everything was on solid financial footing. As I’ve said throughout the budget process, this only reinforces my belief that we balanced the budget by kicking the larger deficit can down the road. We need a true whole-of-government effort to eliminate waste without raising more taxes, creating more revenue-generating schemes that squeeze the middle class, or going back to Albany and Washington for money New Yorkers already pay in taxes. The shell game has to end.”
Mayor Mamdani Announces New Savings Targets
Each agency tasked with identifying 2.5% in savings for FY27, FY28 and the outyears
Mayor asks City workers to help identify savings, streamline processes and improve government operations
NEW YORK – Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani today directed City agencies to identify 2.5% in savings for Fiscal Years (FY) 2027 and 2028, as well as the outyears, as part of the administration’s ongoing effort to streamline service delivery, improve government operations and ensure every taxpayer dollar is spent wisely.
To help meet those targets, the administration will launch a Workforce Savings and Efficiency Survey. This voluntary survey will invite City employees to identify opportunities to reduce waste, improve efficiency and make government work better for New Yorkers. Each submission will be reviewed by the agency’s Chief Savings Officer to inform future savings plans.
“Budget season may have just ended, but our work to build a government that delivers more for New Yorkers is never finished. Every dollar we save by making government work better is a dollar we can put toward services New Yorkers rely on,” said Mayor Mamdani. “By setting these ambitious savings targets early, we’re giving agencies ample time to thoughtfully review their operations, eliminate inefficiencies and strengthen the important work they do without compromising service. And because no one understands how our government can improve better than the dedicated public servants who keep it running, we’re asking them to help lead that effort.”
Today’s announcement builds on the Mamdani administration’s broader effort to make City government more effective, accountable and responsive. Within his first month in office, Mayor Mamdani signed an executive order directing every agency to appoint a Chief Savings Officer (CSO), whose work identified $1.77 billion in savings.
In May, Mayor Mamdani appointed the Commission of Government Efficiency (COGE), which released 5 ballot proposals designed to make government work better, faster and more efficiently for New Yorkers. The Mayor also announced Overhauling Procedures and Expanding Navigation (OPEN), a package of more than 50 regulatory reforms to reduce paperwork and bureaucratic burdens for the City’s roughly 180,000 small businesses; advanced the SPEED (Streamlining Procedures to Expedite Equitable Development) report to cut red tape for housing construction; and launched Public Interest Technology, deploying teams of technologists to solve public challenges through modern, in-house digital solutions.
Banner Image: Speaker Julie Menin Stands in Solidarity with Council Member Phil Wong After Recent Acts of Vandalism Near his District Office. Image Credit – NYC Council
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