View testimony before the Charter Revision Commission (pdf)

New York City Deputy Comptroller Marcia Van Wagner, on behalf of Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., today testified before the Charter Revision Commission, expressing support for the Commission's recommendations and offering additional recommendations.

The Comptroller expressed concern about the provision that calls for the Mayor to certify revenues backing certain short-term revenue anticipation notes. The Comptroller recommended that a more objective entity, such as the Comptroller's Office, be responsible for certifying the revenue numbers to provide a more reasonable check on the Mayor's revenue forecast.

Further, the Comptroller recommended amending the Financial Emergency Act (FEA) to create a Rainy Day Fund that would be used to stabilize City services during a downturn and establish a structurally balanced budget. He also recommended that the State's Financial Control Board—the agency charged with overseeing the City's fiscal practices since the 1970s fiscal crisis—be extended past 2008, when it is currently scheduled to expire.

Finally, the Comptroller expressed concern that the language in the FEA requiring 4-year financial plans from “covered organizations” such as the Health and Hospitals Corporation or the City's Housing Authority, is not included in the Charter Revision Commission's recommendations, thereby excluding valuable information from the budget process.

“The transparency that is now a part of our budget process allows us to confront our budget problems years in advance,” Van Wagner said. “That is no small thing. We must resist any impulse to slide back toward the murkiness in our fiscal affairs that defined our not-so-distant history.”

A copy of the testimony can be viewed at www.comptroller.nyc.gov .