Finance leaders defend staffing levels as members press for consolidation study

The Board of Estimate and Taxation continued its review of the citywide finance budget on March 9, focusing on staffing, recent salary adjustments and the recurring question of consolidating City and Board of Education financial functions.

CFO Jared opened the discussion by highlighting last year’s operational achievements, including implementation of UKG timekeeping, timely completion of the annual comprehensive financial report, work on collective bargaining retroactive payments, progress on a digital budget book and initial revenue from motor‑vehicle registration compliance. He told the board: “it’s a phenomenal team.”

Members pressed Jared and budget staff on personnel counts and the concentration of a salary adjustment that skewed the CFO area’s percentage change. Tom explained that a prior 1% salary adjustment had been applied against chiefs; this year staff are using a citywide salary lapse to net that effect at the bottom line. Miss Yang asked for the accounting mechanics and Tom explained the approach, noting the overall lapse number is roughly $3 million.

The principal policy debate of the night involved whether the city can or should consolidate finance or IT leadership across the City and the Board of Education. Members argued that duplication of functions over time creates inefficiency. Jared and others countered that while the city and Board share products and services (for example the ERP/MUNIS platform and phone systems), the day‑to‑day operations and service needs can differ markedly — citing differences such as student device support versus emergency vehicle IT support — and that those operational differences complicate a straightforward consolidation.

After extended discussion the board asked staff for a written analysis: staff were asked to provide documentation showing the benefits, risks and operational implications of potential consolidations that had been discussed in prior efficiency studies. Jared and Tom agreed to develop that documentation so members can evaluate consolidation proposals with data rather than generalities.

Next steps: the finance team will produce the requested analysis and supply supporting data about headcount, shared services and identified savings opportunities for the board’s follow‑up deliberations.