March 11, 2026City Council Committee on Finance Hearing on the Department of Finance FY 2027 Preliminary Budget

I. Introduction

Good afternoon, Chair Lee and members of the Finance Committee, and members of the City Council.

My name is Jeffrey Shear, and I am the acting commissioner of the New York City Department of Finance. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on DOF's Fiscal Year 2027 preliminary budget.

I am joined today by Jacqueline James, our chief financial officer and deputy commissioner for administration and planning. Deputy Commissioner James oversees DOF's budget, procurement, facilities, and operational planning, and I am grateful for her leadership and support.

Since this is the first time many of you are hearing from me in this role, I will begin with a brief introduction. I've spent my career in New York City public service and have been with DOF for twenty-eight years over two tours of duty, most recently serving as first deputy commissioner. My first job in City government was working as an office associate in DOF's Tax Audit and Enforcement Division. I'm honored to serve as acting commissioner of this great agency, and I look forward to working closely with this Council on the issues that matter most to you and your constituents.

II. Department of Finance overview

DOF is responsible for collecting the revenue that makes city government possible. We administer the City's tax and revenue laws and perform a range of other responsibilities that touch nearly every New Yorker, including homeowners, renters, drivers, entrepreneurs, and more:

• We value more than one million properties each year and produce the annual assessment roll that determines property tax liability.
• We bill and collect property taxes, business taxes, and other charges.
• We grant property exemptions, abatements, and relief to developers, businesses, homeowners, and renters.
• We also record deeds and other property-related documents; adjudicate parking tickets; manage the City's banking and payment services; and represent the mayor on the boards of the City's five pension systems.

In his inaugural address, Mayor Mamdani said that his administration "will answer to all New Yorkers." In its range of services, the Department of Finance plays an essential role in delivering on that commitment.

Our mission is to administer the tax and revenue laws of the City fairly, efficiently, and transparently; to instill public confidence and encourage compliance; and to provide exceptional customer service. Whether a New Yorker is purchasing a home, starting a business, applying for a benefit, or disputing a parking ticket, our responsibility is to make that interaction clear, accessible, and as easy as possible.

That responsibility is especially important at a time when the City confronts significant fiscal challenges. As we face and make tough budgetary decisions, effective revenue administration is essential to maintaining public trust. The work we do supports the services New Yorkers rely on and ensures that compliance is fair-in other words, that those who can pay do pay, and that those who cannot pay are connected to meaningful options for relief.

III. Fiscal Year 2027 preliminary budget

Turning now to our preliminary budget. DOF's Fiscal Year 2027 preliminary budget is $378.5 million, following a Fiscal Year 2026 budget of $387.6 million. Our budget supports core revenue administration, frontline customer service, public safety functions carried out by the Sheriff's Office, and the technology systems we rely on to do our work.

The preliminary budget reflects an authorized headcount of 2,015 positions. As with other agencies, we are operating below authorized levels, and as of the release of the preliminary plan, our active headcount was 1,726. We continue to recruit and hire aggressively, within civil service rules and Citywide hiring processes, to fill critical titles and sustain service levels.

In Fiscal Year 2025, DOF collected more than $50 billion in taxes and other revenues, including property taxes, business taxes, and a wide range of charges and fines that support City operations. Our budget is, at its core, an investment in the people, systems, and customer-facing services that ensure the fair and efficient collection of those revenues.

IV. New initiatives

The Fiscal Year 2027 preliminary budget includes several key items that will help us meet our responsibilities and respond to emerging needs.

We are working with the Mayor's Office to establish the Office of Deed Theft Prevention, which will increase outreach, prevention, and enforcement for this priority issue.

We also will be expanding our outreach efforts to various communities and populations. I would like to take this opportunity to thank City Register Colette McCain-Jacques and Deputy City Register Carmelita Horton for recently appearing at a "Safeguard Your Finances" community forum organized by State Senator James Sanders. DOF staff stands ready to assist any Council Member who needs help spreading the word in their community.

Next, we have made technical adjustments to right-size our other-than-personal-services budget to better represent the annual costs of our property and business tax computer systems. These adjustments will make our budgeting more transparent and consistent year to year.

Finally, as part of the Citywide efficiency exercise, we will do our part to work with the Office of Management and Budget to identify savings and operational efficiencies, while protecting core revenue functions and customer service.

V. Highlights from the last year

Even as we manage staffing and fiscal constraints, DOF has continued to make meaningful progress across our operations.

We continue to meet our customers wherever they are: at our walk-in centers, through in-person events across the five boroughs, and through direct mail and digital communications.

Last year, we surpassed our prior record for in-person outreach, participating in 272 events citywide and meeting more than 2,600 taxpayers.

We are also working to strengthen our email outreach efforts. We have set a goal of increasing the number of emails we send to customers by 50%. I am pleased to share that we are well on our way to meeting this goal. In the first two months of this year, we have reached 74,000 customers with targeted, timely information designed to help them take action, apply for benefits, and comply with the City's tax laws. This is 50,000 more emails than we sent through the same period in 2025.

We have also made improvements to critically important, customer-facing operations. For example, in our commercial parking violation hearings work, we have reduced the number of outstanding cases and implemented video hearings to give commercial vehicle operators a more convenient option to contest violations.

We have also continued to strengthen our procurement practices. The City Comptroller's Fiscal Year 2025 Annual Report on Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise Procurement reflects strong performance by DOF, including a meaningful improvement in the number of M/WBE small purchase registrations with our agency.

Specifically, we achieved a 50% M/WBE utilization by contract value for Local Law 74-eligible contracts and purchase orders, compared with the Citywide average of 8%, and we ranked among the top five most improved agencies by volume of M/WBE Small Purchase registrations. I'd like to thank CFO James and Agency Chief Contracting Officer Roman Shpolyansky for this work. We remain committed to expanding opportunity and ensuring that City contracting dollars reach the diverse businesses that power New York.

As many of you know, a major focus of the past year has been implementing reforms to property tax enforcement that were enacted by the Council when it re-authorized the tax lien outreach and sale process through Local Law 82 of 2024. I want to thank you for your partnership in strengthening protections for homeowners and improving the City's approach to debt resolution.

Ahead of last year's lien outreach and sale process, we undertook an unprecedented effort to ensure that owners understood both the risks of leaving unpaid taxes and charges unresolved and their expanded options to address their situation without having their liens sold. Working with the Mayor's Public Engagement Unit and with our partners at HPD, DEP, and the Center for New York City Neighborhoods, we combined direct outreach, events, and communications to connect owners with property tax exemptions, targeted payment plans, and other options to help them avoid the lien sale.

As a result of these efforts, 85 percent of owners with properties on the initial outreach list were able to take action to be removed from the at-risk pool before the sale of liens, a higher rate than in previous years. In addition, the property tax delinquency rate fell by about half a percentage point-approximately $150 million-compared to Fiscal Year 2024.

VI. Looking ahead

Looking ahead, Mayor Mamdani has paused the lien sale for 2026 so that the Department of Finance can conduct a comprehensive six-month review and determine next steps.

We also remain committed to property tax reform. As the Council knows, the current property tax system is complex and widely viewed as inequitable. DOF supported the work of the New York City Advisory Commission on Property Tax Reform, which issued a report in December 2021 calling for significant change. Since then, we have continued to analyze how the current system is falling short and the implications of different options to improve the system.

Mayor Mamdani has been clear that reform is a priority, and we are working to create a legislative proposal based upon the recommendations of the Advisory Commission. We will continue the work underway to advance reforms that make the system fairer and more transparent, while protecting the stability of the City's revenue base.

In addition, we have been tasked with preparing to run an Environmental Control Board amnesty program in Fiscal Year 2027. ECB debt consists of unresolved violations issued by several agencies, but most notably those issued by the Departments of Buildings and Sanitation that have become judgments and been referred to DOF for collection. If authorized by the Council, an amnesty program will help owners and businesses resolve long-standing debt, come into compliance, and avoid escalating penalties. We look forward to working with the Council on the legislation that would be necessary to implement this program.

Finally, in the context of the City's budget gaps, we will continue to assist City Hall and the Office of Management and Budget with revenue and tax policy initiatives that meet the needs of the City, while staying focused on fairness, customer service, and efficient administration.

VII. Closing

In closing, I want to thank the Council for your partnership and constructive engagement. The Department of Finance's work is invisible when it is done well-but it is foundational to everything the City does.

We remain committed to treating New Yorkers with respect and courtesy, improving how we communicate and deliver services, and administering the City's tax laws fairly and effectively.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I would be happy to answer any questions.