Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

CITY

City

Amnesty Program Clears $150 Million Owed to City


jfc bdb

Mayor de Blasio hands a pen to CM Ferreras-Copeland (photo: @JulissaFerreras)


A three-month amnesty program run by the city Department of Finance cleared more than $150 million in penalties owed by New Yorkers due to fines from various city agencies. Proposed by City Council Member Julissa Ferreras-Copeland and agreed to by the City Council and Mayor Bill de Blasio, the September-to-December fine forgiveness program was aimed at addressing some of $1 billion in debt owed to the city and is being heralded as a success by officials involved.

The program, which was the first of its kind since 2009 and the city promoted through public service announcements and flyers, allowed two main types of forgiveness, both covering certain types of violations -- things like not clearing snow and doing home renovations without a permit. Most of the fines were issued by the Department of Sanitation, the Department of Buildings, and the Fire Department. The amnesty program processed 120,000 violations.

forgiving fines banner ferreras copeland finance amnesty program 1

During the program, New Yorkers owing money for eligible violations who missed their related hearing and had their fines sent to the Environmental Control Board (ECB) for additional penalties could pay their original fine and be excused both interest and penalty. When an individual or business is fined and does not attend a hearing or pay within the required time period, the ECB adds a penalty and oversees interest.

Those who had not yet had their fines referred to the ECB for penalty and interest could pay 75 percent of the fine and be cleared.

"The Fine Forgiveness program was created to bring relief to struggling businesses and property owners while helping the City quickly raise its revenue and eliminate the amount owed in ECB fines,” said Council Member Ferreras-Copeland, chair of the Council’s finance committee, in a statement to Gotham Gazette. “The amnesty exceeded my expectation,” she added. “I am very pleased with these results and the outreach conducted by the Department of Finance.”

Other types of common violations included in the program were a variety of trash-related fines, such as improper disposal of garbage or use of recycling containers; illegal posting of handbills or notices; failure to conduct required inspections and tests; and more. Parking tickets were not included.

Those who have already started the process for paying amnesty-eligible penalties can continue to do so through the Department of Finance, according to its website.

“Any time we can help New Yorkers save, while simultaneously collecting owed debt, we are doing right by the city,” Mayor de Blasio said in a statement. “This year’s amnesty program, the first under this administration, saved New Yorkers over $150 million – money that we hope will provide a little comfort this holiday season.”

***
by Ben Max, Gotham Gazette
     

Read more by this writer.

NYCHA Shifts to Modernized Resident Funds Program


NYCHA Shola Olatoye digital van

At a NYCHA development with CEO Olatoye (photo via NYCHA on flickr)


In an effort to digitize its workforce and operations, the New York City Housing Authority announced a new process for allocating tenant participation funds. Beginning in January, NYCHA -- whose properties are home to about a half-million New Yorkers -- will manage funds that go to resident associations through an online system, similar to an online banking account.

Through this new process, NYCHA will provide each resident association president with a credit card with a maximum spending limit that is proportional to the size of the development. In part, the move is aimed at quicker and better use of such funds, which can help improve quality of life at public housing developments.

The federal government, through the Department of Housing and Urban Development, allocates to NYCHA $25 per unit for tenant participation, 60 percent of which goes to developments, 40 percent to NYCHA central operating. Most resident associations receive between a few thousand and many tens of thousands of dollars.

There are 253 resident associates representing 270 NYCHA developments (of 328 total) citywide, and they plan various activities to engage residents and address hyperlocal concerns. Each RA’s executive board is democratically elected and usually consists of a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and sergeant-at-arms. Tenant participation funds allow residents of housing developments to plan and hold events like family days, skill-building trainings, and after-school programs, and to get involved within their communities.

Prior to this modernized process, RA presidents submitted paper requests, which then went through more than two dozen steps, including for approval from NYCHA’s procurement department. Even if the funding request was minor, the procurement department, which is responsible for major construction project and other contracts, would have to handle the tenants’ requests.

Now, with a digital system, RA presidents will be able to more easily view and spend their funds, and NYCHA will be able to track spending in real-time. The move is one step in the NextGeneration NYCHA plan announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYCHA CEO Shola Olatoye in May 2015. NextGen includes a wide variety of steps to improve and modernize the public housing authority while getting it onto more secure financial footing.

Sideya Sherman, NYCHA’s Executive Vice President for Community Engagement & Partnerships, said this new process will generate more forward-thinking visions for communities.

“This new, modernized process will be more efficient, more effective, more transparent, and more equitable,” Sherman said. “These changes will empower our residents to generate and then actualize more forward-thinking, long-term community-based visions for their developments, ensuring best use of available resources throughout the year.”

NYCHA will now require resident association presidents to create both quarterly and annual spending plans that must be scrutinized and approved before funds are used. The housing authority hopes to encourage resident associations to think ahead long-term and use available funds efficiently.

RA presidents and board members will receive financial training by NYCHA to learn ways to plan for future events, report spending, and properly document finances.

Chaney Yelverton, RA president at Morrisania Air Rights in the Bronx, said this new policy recognizes that residents “have the best sense” of what their community deems important.

“These changes are necessary because NYCHA doesn’t have the time or staff to accommodate all the needs of the residents,” Yelverton said. “Putting these funds in the hands of the residents, who have the best sense of a development’s needs, will make sure that these improvements and resident-focused activities happen in a timelier, more efficient manner. This process––now just a few steps, instead of more steps than you can count––will give residents a direct window into all available funds so resident associations can make the most efficient plans based on the resources they know are available.”

All 253 resident associations in the 270 developments citywide will participate in this new digital process. Earlier this month, NYCHA outlined a plan to distribute $13 million in unspent tenant participation funds from this year proportionally to developments, and will allocate additional funds beginning in the new year.

***
by Devin Gannon for Gotham Gazette

Read more by this writer.

City Hall Hire to Help First Deputy Mayor with Vast Portfolio


Tony Shorris City Hall City Council Rivington

First Deputy Mayor Shorris testifies (photo: William Alatriste)


The de Blasio administration is bringing in a new chief administrative officer to work under First Deputy Mayor Tony Shorris starting January 1. Laura Anglin, who comes to City Hall after serving as president of the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities for the last seven years, “will support the work of a number of City agencies,” according to the December 15 press release announcing her hire.

Those agencies include several within Shorris’ 30-agency portfolio, the vastness of which was a key point of contention at a City Council oversight hearing in September. At that hearing, which focused on the administratioan’s mistakes in removing deed restrictions on Rivington House, City Council Member Ben Kallos asked Shorris a series of questions about the structure of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s upper management and whether the first deputy mayor has too much on his plate. Kallos indicated that he believes de Blasio should have a deputy mayor for operations like some of his predecessors.

Shorris repeatedly said the structure of the cabinet is up to the mayor and, while acknowledging mistakes on Rivington House, indicated that he is comfortable with his workload.

City Hall insists that Anglin’s hire has nothing to do with Rivington, where a nonprofit health care facility is becoming market-rate condos after a series of miscommunications, questionable decisions, and limited agency oversight by Shorris. But, the new chief administrative officer will be responsible for supporting the work of the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), which, along with Shorris’ office, was at the center of the Rivington mishap.

Asked on Tuesday whether Anglin was being brought on as a response to what the Rivington saga showed about Shorris’ workload, de Blasio said, “It’s a way of just making the team stronger. She’s a real proven leader; tremendous experience, particularly at the state level.”

The mayor continued, saying that Shorris “has a huge portfolio,” and credited his first deputy with key contributions to the successes of the past three years. “I think he’s done a fantastic job,” de Blasio said of Shorris. “But, it gives us the ability to support his work more effectively, it’s as simple as that.”

According to the announcement of her hire, Anglin will deal with agencies including “Fire, Sanitation, Transportation, DEP, DOITT, DDC, DCAS, Buildings and TLC.”

According to the mayor’s office, Anglin will be paid $218,000 annually, coming in at a higher level, but in a sense filling several vacant positions, including a senior advisor for contracts and administration who left earlier this year.

“This hire allows us to bring an exceptionally talented individual on to the First Deputy Mayor’s team, and in doing so, making up for some positions that were vacated earlier this year,” said Natalie Grybauskas, a de Blasio spokesperson, in a statement to Gotham Gazette.

According to the announcement of her hire, prior to her time as CICU’s president, Anglin “spent time working as the First Deputy Budget Director and Budget Director for New York State, largely in charge of managing the State’s financial plan and proposals. Additionally, Anglin has spent time as an economist at the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, an Econometrician at the New York Department of Taxation and Finance, and has had various roles in the NY State Assembly.”

During the September hearing on the Rivington matter, Council Member Kallos asked Shorris about his portfolio, at one point asking him if he agreed that approximately 30 agencies is “a lot,” to which Shorris replied “Yes.”

When Kallos asked why there is no deputy mayor for operations under de Blasio, Shorris said, “Well, the decision on the structure of the government at City Hall is obviously the Mayor's decision; we discussed that and there are many models. As I'm sure you know, over the course of the years there have been many different structures for City Hall -- some have first deputy mayors, some don't; some have deputy mayors for operations, some don't; some have seven deputy mayors; some have three; it's all based on how a mayor wants to organize his government and do so effectively.”

De Blasio has structured his government with Shorris as first deputy mayor for the entirety of his term thus far, and three other deputy mayors, one each for housing and economic development (Alicia Glen throughout); health and human services (currently Dr. Herminia Palacio); and strategic policy initiatives (Richard Buery throughout).

Kallos, who declined to comment for this article, asked Shorris if he felt that he had been able to “effectively manage” his vast portfolio. “I'm extremely proud of the record of this administration in implementing a series of initiatives,” Shorris said, before Kallos interrupted and the two simultaneously for a few moments.

One breakdown in the Rivington chain of events was that Shorris had stopped reading the weekly memos prepared for him by commissioners who report to him and key decisions were being made that were not otherwise communicated in person or by phone or email. The memos came up during the hearing, with Kallos asking about them and whether Shorris reads them.

“As I mentioned in my testimony, Councilman, when I began, I asked [commissioners] to provide a weekly memo that summarized their activities in the prior week,” Shorris said. “I initially read some of them, 'cause I was obviously trying to learn the way the government operated. Over time, as I became more comfortable with the operations of the government and my meetings with the agencies became more and more frequent, that became less necessary; as a result, as I mentioned in my testimony, I took to reviewing the memos on an episodic basis, just to sort of get a feel for what was going on -- they were not decision-making vehicles.”

“So have you told the commissioners and agencies that they don't actually have to do these anymore because they're not useful?” Kallos asked.

“No,” Shorris responded. “No, what I've told them is they should continue to send them and our staff reviews them, I review some of them. From time to time they provide information that's helpful in context, but they're not for decision-making, Councilman, but they have other purposes.”

***
by Ben Max, Gotham Gazette
     

Read more by this writer.



Print Friendly and PDF

Editor's Choice


Gotham Gazette: New York Voters Approve $4.2 Billion Environmental Bond Act
New York Voters Approve $4.2 Billion Environmental Bond Act
Gotham Gazette: 
New York City Voters Approve Racial Justice Ballot Measures
New York City Voters Approve Racial Justice Ballot Measures
Gotham Gazette: 
Housing Development in New York City Slows to a Crawl as Officials Debate Tax Incentives
Housing Development in New York City Slows to a Crawl as Officials Debate Tax Incentives
Gotham Gazette: 
City Council Examines Low Voter Turnout, Moving Local Elections to Even Years City Council Examines Low Voter Turnout, Moving Local Elections to Even Years