Categories: New York City
05.12.2014
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio released his first executive budget on Thursday. The total budget for the 2014-2015 fiscal year is $73.9 billion dollars, providing significant funding to support many of the progressive plans the administration has laid out in its first few months. Notably, the budget includes $2.5 billion in capital funds over four years for the mayor’s new “Housing New York” plan to create and preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing over ten years. In his budget address, Mayor de Blasio specifically cited supportive housing as one of the tools that the City will use to reduce homelessness. Other highlights from the budget include: rental assistance for homeless families, capping HASA clients’ rent costs to no more than 30% of income and an increase in shelter beds for runaway and homeless youth.
“This executive budget proves that Mayor de Blasio is serious about solving New York City’s housing affordability crisis,” said Network Executive Director Ted Houghton. “The Mayor’s ambitious housing plan now has dollars attached to it. Placing $2.5 billion into the capital housing budget over the next four years will put us in a strong position to reach the mayor’s ten-year, 200,000-unit goal. I am particularly pleased by the budget’s plan to increase City capital funds for supportive housing development to over $100 million a year. This will fund the construction of thousands of units of permanent supportive housing for the most vulnerable New Yorkers, including homeless individuals, families and seniors.”
More specifically, Mayor de Blasio’s budget includes the following:
Housing Preservation & Development (HPD)
HPD’s capital commitments for FY 2015–2018 total $2.5 billion – an average of over $625 million per year. This includes an average of over $560 million per year in city capital funds. The capital budget allocates $498 million for supportive housing development for FY 2015–2018, almost $125 million per year. This is more than twice as much as was budgeted for this time period in the previous plan and could cover the capital costs of a new, expanded City-State agreement for supportive housing.
Department of Homeless Services (DHS)
In a joint City-State agreement, the budget announced that DHS will create a new rental assistance program for homeless working families called the Working Families Subsidy Program, with the City and the State each allocating $40 million over the next four years. As allowed under new language included in the recently-passed State budget, the City will fund this initiative by offsetting the cost with savings from federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and City/State Safety Net funds that are currently funding shelters. In partnership with the Human Resources Administration (HRA), the budget also commits to reinvesting $60.1 million in shelter savings into rental assistance. The budget stipulates that this will be done by reducing reimbursement rates for payments to private landlords renting emergency apartments.
Human Resources Administration (HRA)/HIV AIDS Services Administration (HASA)
The budget maintains full funding for HASA case management services in supportive housing. In addition, the budget reflects the recent action by the State to subsidize rent for poor New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS, ensuring that the 14,000 HASA clients living in private market-rate apartments do not pay more than 30% of their incomes toward rent.
Department of Youth & Community Development (DYCD)
The budget also reflects the de Blasio Administration’s commitment to homeless youth issues. There is an additional $3.4 million dollars allocated towards 100 additional crisis and shelter beds for runaway and homeless youth. This includes 24 beds specifically for LGBTQ young people, who often face a higher risk of homelessness.
Next Steps in the Budget Process:
The City Council will begin another round of budget hearings on the Mayor’s Executive Budget beginning May 15. There will then be an opportunity for the public to testify at a public hearing on Friday, June 6 beginning at 4pm. The budget goes into effect on July 1, the start of the City’s fiscal year.
If you have any questions and/or would like more information, please email or call Edline Jacquet at (646) 619-9646. We will provide more budget details as they become available.
Photo credit: Seth Wenig, Associated Press