The City Council adopted the fiscal year 2023 budget last month, passing a $101.1 billion expense budget. We dive into the details of the expense and capital budget for housing, which is largely the same budget that was proposed in Mayor Eric Adams executive budget in April.

Capital Budget

The final capital budget for HPD and NYCHA is unchanged from the executive budget plan, where Mayor Eric Adams added $5 billion over ten years – including $3.6 billion for HPD, $1.2 billion for NYCHA PACT, and $200 million for NYCHA’s Gowanus and Wycoff Houses. 

Total spending for HPD and NYCHA from the city capital budget will now be roughly $2.5 billion per year. While this is a significant increase over years past on housing, it still falls far short of the $4 billion United for Housing has called for as the minimum necessary to address the housing crisis.

NYHC dove into the budget lines to see how the new $5 billion was allocated.
Over the first five years (FY2022-FY2026) HPD’s capital budget increased by $1.4 billion, nearly $350 million per year from 2023 – 2026 (no money was added in FY2022, the fiscal year that is currently ending). Most of this increase was the $1.2 billion allocated for NYCHA PACT conversions at roughly $300 million per year.

During the first five years only $200 million was added to increase HPD capital programs, all of it added in FY2025, with $92 million for ELLA, $52 million for PLP, $30 million for supportive housing, $10 million each for the Mix and Match and Open Door programs, $4 million for supportive housing rehab and $2 million more for the HomeFix program.

The plan also adds $200 million to the NYCHA capital budget for Gowanus and Wycoff Houses, money that was negotiated during the Gowanus rezoning. That money is allocated to NYCHA in FY2023 ($20 million) and FY2024 ($180 million).

The bulk of the new money for HPD capital – $3.4 billion of the $3.6 billion, not counting NYCHA PACT – therefore is allocated in the last half of the ten year plan, fiscal years 2027 – 2031. The administration added $745 million in FY 2027 and $660 million each year thereafter.
Over the final five years (2027-2031), that funding is allocated in total accordingly:

  • $1.56 billion for ELLA
  • $880 million for PLP
  • $507.8 million for supportive housing new construction
  • $169 million for Open Door
  • $169 million for Mix and Match
  • $67.7 million for supportive housing rehab
  • $33.8 million for HomeFix

Operating Budget: In the adopted budget, the City Council added $16.6 million in funding for one year for housing initiatives where they will allocate the money to local nonprofits. Below is the new funding added:

The adopted budget also includes $60 million to cover a cost-of-living increase for nonprofit human services workers, including $12 million for DHS providers and $7.6 million for DSS providers.

Staffing

Department of Housing Preservation and Development: HPD’s staffing crisis continues. The latest numbers, which we received from the Independent Budget Office, show that the agency has lost a net of 3 staff in May since March. While this is a small decrease, it shows the agency is not get moving in the right direction yet. We encourage Mayor Eric Adams and everyone in the administration to review our recent policy brief, which made recommendations to help the agency add new staff quickly and better retain staff.

Commission on Human Rights
The City Commission on Human Rights, which among other things enforces the law prohibiting discrimination based on source of income, is also severely understaffed. The agency had 100 people on staff in April compared to a budgeted headcount of 142.

To make matters worse, budget cuts at the agency targeted only the office that enforces SOI discrimination. In February, the mayor proposed cutting 18 positions from that office, which would have brought down budgeted staffing to 6 from 24. Thanks to push-back from advocates and the City Council, the agency’s budget cut was reduced to 12 positions, leaving the office with 12 budgeted positions.

Source of income discrimination is a major barrier to people using city, state and federal housing vouchers to exit homelessness. The city needs to staff up the CCHR SOI office, which this past spring had zero staff according to reporting, and ensure the office has sufficient resources in order to make housing voucher programs truly effective.