The City has adjusted funds in its Financial Plan over the course of the last fiscal year to meet the expenses associated with providing shelter to people seeking asylum. Costs are primarily driven by two variables: the growth in the number of households seeking shelter and the average per diem rate of providing shelter and services.
Funding for Services to People Seeking Asylum, OMB Financial Plans
| Plan ($ in Millions) |
FY 2023 (Actuals) | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | FY 2026 | FY 2027 | FY 2028 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adopted 2023 | $1,454 | $2,905 | $1,003 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $5,362 |
| November 2023 | $1,474 | $4,720 | $6,102 | $2,000 | $1,000 | $0 | $15,296 |
| January 2024 | $1,474 | $4,219 | $4,873 | $2,500 | $1,500 | $0 | $14,566 |
| April 2024 | $1,474 | $3,756 | $4,748 | $4,000 | $3,000 | $0 | $16,978 |
Source: Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget
The City of New York spent $1.47 billion for asylum seeker shelter and services in the fiscal year that ended in June 2023, with $438 million to be reimbursed by the State.
Funding for Services to People Seeking Asylum, Executive 2024 Financial Plan
| ($ in Millions) | FY 2023 (Actuals) | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | FY 2026 | FY 2027 | FY 2028 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City | $1,036 | $2,287 | $3,436 | $3,000 | $2,000 | $0 | $11,759 |
| State | 438 | 1,312 | 1,312 | 1,000 | 1,000 | – | 5,062 |
| Federal | 0 | 157 | 157 | ||||
| Total | $1,474 | $3,756 | $4,748 | $4,000 | $3,000 | $0 | $16,978 |
Source: Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget
Note: FY 2024 excludes $7M million in Intra-City funds
In its May 22nd Comments on New York City’s Executive Budget, the Comptroller’s Office projected that total FY 2024 spending would be $3.76 billion, or the same as the Administration’s projection. For FY 2025 the Comptroller’s Office estimates FY 2025 costs will be $3.42 billion, or $1.32 billion less than the Administration’s projection of $4.75 billion, primarily from lower than expected growth of asylum seekers in City shelter.
Spending
Spending for asylum seekers can be portrayed over different time periods and by different measures. Monthly, the Administration publishes an estimate of the amount spent by type and agency through the City Council’s Terms and Conditions. Traditionally, the City’s Financial Management System (FMS) is the primary source for spending information. The Terms and Conditions are used to share timely and regular information of the Administration’s estimate, since FMS is subject to delays from processing, particularly those related to the emergency procurement process.
FY 2023 and FY 2024 Asylum Seeker Spending
Note: All information is through April 2024. Administration Estimated represents the Administration’s estimated expenditure amount on asylum seekers as reported to the City Council. Liquidated represents the expenditure amount that has been distributed, including drawdown of the prior year payable. Remaining Prior Year Payable is the FY 2023 payable amount that has yet to be distributed. Remaining Committed is the expenditure amount shown in FMS and includes and pre-encumbrances, encumbrances, and unliquidated. The Remaining Budget in FY 2024 is the total amount included in the most recent City budget for asylum seekers and subtracts commitments and liquidations.
Of the total FY 2023 expended amount, $563 million was set up as a payable, meaning it was anticipated to be paid to vendors for services received that year but had not yet been paid at the time of the fiscal close. As of the end of April, only $73 million of that amount was cleared.
Per FMS, $2.44 billion has been spent in FY 2024 through April, compared to the $3.16 billion reported as expended in the Terms and Conditions.
State and Federal Funding
The State’s FY 2025 Enacted Budget was passed on April 20, 2024. It commits $2.4 billion in further support for asylum seekers, most of which will flow through the City’s budget. While this amount did not change from the Governor’s proposed Executive Budget, it was lower than OMB’s assumption of $1.76 billion for FY 2024 in the January Preliminary Plan. Therefore, the City reduced State funding by $450 million in the City’s Executive Budget, backfilling with City-funds.
The FY 2025 Executive Plan includes $157 million in Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) funding in FY 2024 – $1.8 million more than the Preliminary Plan. Of this budgeted amount, $48.9 million is from the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP), and $108 million from the Shelter and Services Program (SSP). As of April 30, 2024, the City has received only the $48.9 million in EFSP funding.
As noted in our last report, the SSP program has many stringent reimbursement requirements. While the Federal government has signaled it will waive a cap on hotel spending, other documentation hurdles remain. [1] The Comptroller’s Office continues to include the $108 million that the City has not yet received from this program as a risk, which City funds may need to cover.
Projections of Asylum Seeker Shelter Census
In its May 22nd Report on the FY 2025 Executive Budget, the Comptroller’s Office updated its projections using the shelter census from February 1, 2024, through April 28, 2024. This period was chosen to capture the 60-day notices issued to families with children in non-DHS facilities expiring, but not the immediate, one-time decline following the initial expirations on January 9th. This date range also begins to capture the impact of changes to single adult 30 and 60-day notices from the Legal Aid agreement stipulation which went into effect on April 8th. These changes net to a decrease of 2.3 households per day, which the Office applies through FY 2025 to estimate the future population census, and the population is held flat for FYs 2026 through 2028.
Updated Comptroller Projection of Asylum Seeker Shelter Census (Households)
Source: Office of the New York City Comptroller; Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget
Note: Shelter census includes all households seeking asylum in City shelters including those in DHS-operated shelters, HERRCs, and other facilities. Number of households are estimates based on shelter census and average household sizes provided by the Office of Management and Budget.
Note: A household can be a family with children, adults living together as a family (adult parent with an adult child or adults living as partners without children) or a single adult living alone
Per Diem
DHS manages contracts that house 32,130 individuals as of May 12, 2024, accounting for 49 percent of asylum seekers currently in City-funded shelter. DHS has procured 161 emergency shelters in former hotels through a combination of nonprofit service providers and a hotel contract administered by the Hotel Association of NYC (HANYC). While a small number of the nonprofit providers subcontract directly with a hotel provider, most of the registered contracts are for services only and the hotel rooms are procured separately via the HANYC contract. The below table shows the average room rates by borough (plus the city of Yonkers). The average HANYC per diem is $156, as shown below.
HANYC Hotel Room Rates by Borough
| Borough | Shelters Per Borough | Average Daily Per Diem |
|---|---|---|
| Bronx | 17 | $141 |
| Brooklyn | 30 | $146 |
| Manhattan | 19 | $185 |
| Queens | 48 | $148 |
| Staten Island | 4 | $131 |
| Yonkers | 1 | $175 |
| Total | 119 | $156 |
Source: New York City Mayor’s Office, Office of the New York City Comptroller
The Comptroller’s Office further analyzed 66 DHS contract budgets, and the average service cost for all items other than rent (security, food, fringe, overhead, etc.) the average DHS per diem was $172. When adding in the average HANYC rents and the DHS per diem for sites following this model, the per diem is approximately $328, less than the average the administration cites, $382 from July 2022 through March 2024.
[1] https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/03/14/nyc-finally-unlocks-rest-of-over-100m-in-federal-migrant-aid-after-months-of-paperwork-delays/
The Office of the Comptroller uses the term “asylum seeker” to refer to newly arrived migrants who have come to NYC in need of shelter and are seeking asylum or other forms of immigration relief.