The FY2026 Adopted Budget at a glance
On June 30, 2025, the City Council and the Mayor adopted a balanced $115.91 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2026 (July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026).
Where the money goes — by service area
FY2026 budget by service area (%)
Source: OMB / NYC Comptroller
FY2026 budget by service area ($ billions)
Education includes DOE and CUNY funding
| Service area | Amount ($B) | Share of total |
|---|---|---|
| Education (DOE + CUNY) | 31.18 | 26.9% |
| Other agency spending | 33.15 | 28.6% |
| Social services agencies | 19.26 | 16.6% |
| Fringe benefits & pensions* | 25.17 | 21.7% |
| Debt service | 4.87 | 4.2% |
| Judgments & claims | 0.82 | 0.7% |
| General & capital stabilization reserves | 1.45 | 1.3% |
| Total | 115.91 | 100% |
Why this portal exists
Every June, the City Council and the Mayor adopt an Expense Budget, a Capital Budget, and a Financial Plan covering the current and next three fiscal years. TransparencyNYC translates the official budget documents — the Adopted Budget, the Comptroller's analysis, and the Independent Budget Office's reporting — into plain language, so residents can see how their tax dollars are raised and spent without reading a 1,000-page appropriations book.
Where the money comes from
Tax revenue funds the bulk of the City's budget. Property taxes and personal income taxes together account for about two-thirds of all tax collections.
Total FY2026 revenues by source ($B)
Total: $115.91 billion
Composition of tax revenue (%)
Total tax revenue: $81.32 billion
| Revenue source | FY2026 Adopted | Share of total |
|---|---|---|
| General Property Tax | 35,266 | 30.4% |
| Other Taxes (sales, income, business, real estate transfer) | 45,248 | 39.0% |
| Tax Audit Revenues | 809 | 0.7% |
| Subtotal: Taxes | 81,323 | 70.2% |
| Miscellaneous (non-tax) Revenues | 8,103 | 7.0% |
| State Categorical Grants | 18,980 | 16.4% |
| Federal Categorical Grants | 7,470 | 6.4% |
| Other Categorical Grants | 1,125 | 1.0% |
| Inter-Fund Revenues | 805 | 0.7% |
| Less: Intra-City Revenues | (1,884) | (1.6%) |
| Disallowances Against Categorical Grants | (15) | (0.0%) |
| Total Revenues | 115,907 | 100% |
Federal and State aid — a shrinking, at-risk share
Federal categorical grants ($7.47 billion, 6.4% of revenue) are budgeted lower than the $11.04 billion recognized in FY2025, mainly reflecting the wind-down of pandemic-era Federal aid. The City typically books more Federal revenue during the year than is shown at budget adoption, but the Comptroller's Office has flagged over $600 million in Federal grant terminations, pauses, or cancellations announced since the FY2026 budget was adopted, along with billions in potential Medicaid and SNAP cost-shifts to New York State and the City stemming from 2025 Federal legislation.
Where the money goes — by object of expense
Personal Service costs (salaries, pensions, and health benefits) make up half of the City's spending; the rest funds contracts, Medicaid, public assistance, debt service, and other operating costs.
FY2026 vs. FY2025 spending by category (millions $, adjusted for prepayments)
Source: NYC Comptroller's Office, Table 8
| Category | FY2025 | FY2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salaries and Wages | 32,808 | 34,299 | +4.5% |
| Pensions | 9,917 | 10,366 | +4.5% |
| Health Insurance | 8,908 | 9,730 | +9.2% |
| Other Fringe Benefits | 4,695 | 5,082 | +8.2% |
| Subtotal: Personal Service (PS) | 56,328 | 59,477 | +5.6% |
| Medicaid | 6,380 | 6,583 | +3.2% |
| Public Assistance | 2,648 | 1,650 | −37.7% |
| Judgments and Claims | 1,081 | 823 | −23.9% |
| Contractual Services | 28,653 | 24,106 | −15.9% |
| Other OTPS | 19,473 | 16,943 | −13.0% |
| Subtotal: Other Than Personal Service (OTPS) | 58,236 | 50,105 | −14.0% |
| Debt Service | 7,624 | 8,661 | +13.6% |
| Total, excluding reserves & prepayments | 122,188 | 118,244 | −3.2% |
Personal Service vs. Other-Than-Personal-Service
Personal Service breakdown, FY2026 ($B)
OTPS breakdown, FY2026 ($B)
A note on the Department of Correction
As one example of agency-level detail available in the City's budget books: the Department of Correction, which runs the City's jails, is budgeted at approximately $1.21 billion for FY2026 with 7,159 budgeted employees, including 5,619 uniformed correction officers — a useful reference point for the level of detail published for each of the City's roughly 100 mayoral and non-mayoral agencies in the Adopted Budget's agency-by-agency volumes.
Capital budget and debt
Beyond day-to-day operating costs, the City separately adopts a Capital Budget to pay for infrastructure — schools, transit, parks, and resiliency projects — financed mostly through long-term municipal bonds.
What drove the increase in the capital plan
Where the $2.30 billion capital budget increase went (millions $)
FY2026 Adopted vs. FY2026 Executive Capital Budget
$1.0 billion of the increase supports transit-related projects, part of a State-mandated $3.0 billion City contribution to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's FY2025–FY2029 Capital Plan. The remaining increase funds education, cultural institution, and parks projects.
Debt service is the fastest-growing major expense
Debt service, FY2026–FY2029 (billions $)
Source: OMB June 2025 Financial Plan
The multi-year financial plan
FY2026 is balanced, as required by New York State law. But the City's own June 2025 Financial Plan already shows budget gaps opening up in each of the next three fiscal years.
Projected budget gap, FY2027–FY2029 (billions $)
"Gap to be closed" as stated in the June 2025 Financial Plan — before any new savings or revenue actions
| Fiscal Year | Total Revenues | Total Expenditures | Gap to be Closed |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 (Adopted) | 115,907 | 115,907 | 0 (balanced) |
| FY2027 (Plan) | 116,904 | 121,948 | (5,044) |
| FY2028 (Plan) | 119,764 | 125,867 | (6,103) |
| FY2029 (Plan) | 122,852 | 128,816 | (5,964) |
Independent watchdogs project even larger gaps
The Office of the New York City Comptroller re-estimates these gaps to be considerably larger once "chronically underbudgeted" costs are factored in — items like uniformed overtime, rental assistance (CityFHEPS), and homeless shelter costs that recur every year but are not fully funded at budget adoption. The Comptroller's baseline (no-recession) estimate is a $4.22 billion gap for FY2026 itself, growing to $8.83 billion in FY2027, $9.95 billion in FY2028, and $8.54 billion in FY2029.
City-stated gap vs. Comptroller's re-estimated gap (billions $)
Positive figures on the City's side mean "balanced" — the Comptroller's figures include chronic underbudgeting
Workforce: authorized vs. actual headcount
Full-time City headcount — authorized (FY2026 Adopted) vs. actual (July 2025)
FAQ & budget glossary
Plain-language answers to the questions that come up most when reading a city budget document.
What is the difference between the Preliminary, Executive, and Adopted Budget?
The Mayor releases a Preliminary Budget in January, an Executive Budget in April/May (revised for updated revenue and expense estimates), and the City Council then negotiates and adopts a final Adopted Budget by law before July 1, the start of the fiscal year. NYC's fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30 — FY2026 covers July 2025 through June 2026.
What is Personal Service (PS) vs. Other Than Personal Service (OTPS)?
PS covers salaries, wages, pensions, and health/fringe benefits for City employees and retirees. OTPS covers everything else: contracts with vendors and nonprofits, Medicaid and public assistance payments, supplies, equipment, and judgments and claims.
What is the Financial Plan, and why does it cover four years?
State law requires the City to project revenues and expenditures four years out (the current fiscal year plus three "outyears") so that policymakers and the public can see whether today's spending decisions are sustainable. Only the current fiscal year's budget is legally binding; the outyears are a plan, not an appropriation.
What is a "budget gap," and is it illegal?
It is not illegal — only the current fiscal year's budget must be balanced. Gaps projected for future years reflect the City's best current estimate of the difference between planned spending and expected revenue; they are typically closed through some mix of spending cuts, revenue growth, and new savings actions before each outyear becomes the current year's budget.
What is the Revenue Stabilization Fund (the "rainy day fund")?
It is New York City's reserve fund for economic downturns, currently holding about $1.96 billion. Unlike many states, the City has no binding formula requiring minimum deposits or governing withdrawals — both the Comptroller's Office and other fiscal monitors have called for adopting formal rules.
Where can I read the official documents?
The Mayor's Office of Management and Budget publishes the Adopted Budget, Executive Budget, and Financial Plan at nyc.gov/omb. The Office of the New York City Comptroller and the Independent Budget Office (IBO) both publish independent analyses of every budget cycle.