{"id":269852,"date":"2026-06-17T18:18:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T18:18:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/269852\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T18:18:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T18:18:13","slug":"nyc-budget-mamdani-and-levine-want-new-rainy-day-fund-rules-before-the-next-fiscal-downpour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/269852\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC budget: Mamdani and Levine want new rainy day fund rules before the next fiscal downpour"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a> and City Comptroller Mark Levine<\/a> urged New York City\u2019s Charter Revision Commission on Government Efficiency (COGE<\/a>) on Wednesday to seriously consider amending the City Charter to create a formal funding structure for the city\u2019s rainy day fund.<\/p>\n

The joint statement came as Levine submitted testimony<\/a> to the commission calling for clearer rules around the Revenue Stabilization Fund, the formal name for the rainy day fund, including a target balance, formula-driven deposits, withdrawal guardrails, and regular public reporting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Rainy Day Fund exists because New Yorkers voted to give our City a tool to protect essential services during economic downturns and emergencies. It helps safeguard our schools, public safety, sanitation, housing, health care and social services when times get tough. Years after its creation, the fund still lacks formal rules governing it \u2013 and that needs to change,\u201d Mamdani and Levine said in a joint statement.\u00a0\u201cWe need a stronger, more predictable approach to saving for our future. New Yorkers deserve confidence that their government is prepared not only for today\u2019s challenges, but for tomorrow\u2019s as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is why we support the serious consideration by the Charter Revision Commission on Government Efficiency to amend the Charter to give the Rainy Day Fund a formal funding structure, including considering a clear target, and responsible rules for when reserves can be used. Building reserves is one of the most responsible steps government can take. It allows us to weather economic shocks without forcing working people to bear the cost through cuts to the services they depend on,\u201d they added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The rainy day fund was created after New Yorkers approved a 2019 charter amendment allowing the city to save money for future years. State lawmakers passed enabling legislation in 2020, and former Mayor Bill de Blasio later signed an executive order establishing the Revenue Stabilization Fund.<\/p>\n

But Levine argues the fund\u2019s governance structure remains incomplete. In his testimony, he said the city currently has no binding target size for the fund, no formula requiring regular deposits and insufficient guardrails governing withdrawals.<\/p>\n

Levine\u2019s proposal would amend Chapter 58, Section 1528 of the City Charter to set a target size for the fund, require a formula-based deposit mechanism and establish conditions and limits for withdrawals. He also called for changing the charter language from \u201cmay maintain\u201d to \u201cshall maintain\u201d a revenue stabilization fund.<\/p>\n

What Mamdani\/Levine\u2019s rainy day plan does<\/p>\n

Under the proposal, the mayor, comptroller and City Council would jointly determine a policy setting the parameters for deposits, withdrawal triggers and implementation procedures.<\/p>\n

Levine\u2019s office has proposed setting the fund\u2019s target at 16% of city tax revenues, a level he says reflects the average revenue shortfall the city has experienced during past recessions. He is also calling for the fund to reach at least 10% of tax revenues to provide meaningful support at the beginning of a downturn.<\/p>\n

The fund currently holds about $2 billion, or roughly 2% of city tax revenues, according to the comptroller\u2019s office.\n<\/p>\n

The proposal would require the city to make regular deposits when the fund is below its target level. Levine\u2019s office has recommended a formula that would allow the city to save more during strong revenue years, when revenues are growing and deposits would be less painful.<\/p>\n

The plan would also place clearer limits on when the city can tap the fund. Levine said withdrawals should be reserved for genuine fiscal emergencies, such as a recession, major revenue decline, natural disaster or other catastrophic event, and should not become a routine tool for balancing the budget.<\/p>\n

That issue surfaced earlier this year when the Mamdani administration initially proposed<\/a> drawing on the rainy day fund to help balance the financial plan, even though the city was not facing a recession, a catastrophic event, or a major revenue collapse. That withdrawal is no longer reflected in the current budget<\/a>, but Levine said the episode showed how vulnerable the fund remains without tougher rules.<\/p>\n

Levine also called for regular public reporting, including a Rainy Day Fund section in each financial plan and annual reporting on implementation to fiscal monitors and the public. The reporting would include the fund\u2019s current balance, target balance, gap between the two, deposit formula, whether withdrawal triggers have been met, and the planned use of any proposed withdrawal.<\/p>\n

The proposal comes as COGE weighs possible charter changes that could go before voters this November. Mamdani created the commission<\/a> after moving to dissolve a charter revision commission appointed at the end of former Mayor Eric Adams\u2019 administration, replacing it with a panel focused on government efficiency, service delivery, and accountability.<\/p>\n

The rainy day fund push also comes amid\u00a0broader warnings from Levine and other fiscal watchdogs<\/a> that the city faces large out-year budget gaps, relies too heavily on one-time fiscal fixes, and maintains reserves that are too low for a city exposed to Wall Street volatility, federal funding uncertainty, climate risks, and technological disruption.<\/p>\n

Levine has also tied the reserve push to his office\u2019s recent analysis of artificial intelligence<\/a>, which warned that an AI investment bust or labor-market disruption could weaken city tax revenues by billions of dollars over the financial plan period.<\/p>\n

In his testimony, Levine said the proposed reform is meant to protect New Yorkers from sudden cuts when the economy turns.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThis reform is not about locking away money for its own sake. It is about protecting New Yorkers when the economy turns. A strong Rainy Day Fund is what allows the City to preserve essential services, avoid sudden layoffs, maintain market confidence, and respond to families and communities in moments of disruption,\u201d Levine said in his testimony.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Charter should make clear that New York City will save in good times so that it can protect New Yorkers in hard times,\u201d he added.\n<\/p>\n

Any charter amendment recommended by COGE would need voter approval before taking effect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor Zohran Mamdani and City Comptroller Mark Levine urged New York City\u2019s Charter Revision Commission on Government Efficiency…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":269853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[104096,36520,11563,104097,4954,58405,35007,18079,58809,9,24,47790,56,63,65,64,104098,66347,104099,82],"class_list":["post-269852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-budget-reserves","tag-charter-revision-commission","tag-city-charter","tag-economic-downturns","tag-financial-planning","tag-fiscal-policy","tag-government-efficiency","tag-mark-levine","tag-municipal-finance","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-budget","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-public-finance-reform","tag-rainy-day-fund","tag-revenue-stabilization-fund","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}