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Charter Revision Task Force
July 8, 2024 @ 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm EDT
Charter Revision Task Force
Monday, July 8, 2024 - 6:30 PM
This meeting was conducted via Zoom
MINUTES: July 2024 Charter Revision Task Force Minutes
A livestream of this meeting can be found here.
AGENDA:
1. Explanation of the NYC Charter Revision Commission and Upcoming Dates
2. Presentation from the city's Independent Budget Office (IBO) and questions about potential charter revisions that have been developed by the IBO and that will be considered by the Charter Revision Commission. Those potential revisions have been described by the IBO as:
- Enhance the City’s budget structure to promote transparency and review the Charter language around Units of Appropriations (U/As). As it currently stands, many agency budgets are categorized in a way that makes it impossible for the average New Yorker to pick up an agency budget and determine the cost of a specific program within that agency without the use of internal budget codes.
- Enhance accessibility of fiscal impact information on proposed legislation. IBO is currently mandated to provide Fiscal Impact Statements by request. In comparison, the Congressional Budget Office is mandated to price out each individual piece of legislation. IBO welcomes a dialogue as to how we might be able to assist the Commission in achieving their goal of bringing more attention to the financial impact of proposed legislation.
- Consider targeted reforms in contract-based spending to ensure cost-effective service delivery for New Yorkers, which in fiscal year 2023 exceeded $40 billion. The Commission can empower the Procurement Policy Board (PPB) that oversees the City’s procurement rules. This would require a simple language change in the charter that mandates the PPB create rules that govern emergency contracting and the timeliness of payments to providers.
- IBO suggests that the Commission review ways to strengthen the budgetary framework, including by moving more of the protections from the state Financial Emergency Act into the Charter and by strengthening Charter provisions concerning the Revenue Stabilization Fund, commonly called the Rainy-Day Fund, and the transparency, usage, and implementation of all of the City’s reserve accounts.
- IBO supports adding Charter language to ensure that all relevant information is made available to enable City fiscal monitors, including IBO, to analyze the City’s budget and fiscal health.
3. Presentation by IBO Analyst on other recommendations made to the commission during the public hearings.
4. Explanation by Co-Chair Weiner of and questions about City Council Speaker Adrienne Adam’s recommendations for revisions to the City Charter
- Take more time delay delay ballot issue until 11/25
- Allow City Council Advise and Consent on Mayor’s appointments to be on ballot this year
- Make certain appropriations i the budget more specific
- Tie the Civilian Complaint Review Board’s to the NYPD budget
5. Discussion of the bullets in items 2, 3, and 4 above.
- Resolution 1 Units of Appropriation
- Resolution 2 CCRB Budget
- Resolution 3 IBO Analysis of the Fiscal impact of legislation
- Resolution 4 Threshold Contract Amount for Public Hearings
- Resolution 5 Two year limit to the duration of emergency contracts
- Resolution 6 Procurement Policy Board (PPB)
- Resolution 7 City fiscal monitors and reserve accounts
- Resolution 8 Opposition to any changes affecting ULURP
- Resolution 9 Expand the authority of the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection
- Resolution 10 Aligning the Department of Transportation Charter Language with federal standards
- Resolution 11 Remove term limits for community board membership
- Resolution 12 Ballot measures be presented on ballots objectively, factually, and accurately
6. (Time permitting) Discussion of potential charter revision proposals related to the role of Public Advocate.
7. Next Steps
A. Old Business
B. New Business
Russell Squire and Sharon Weiner, Co-Chairs