Report: NYPD '24 fiscal budget short $1.6B for cop raises, OT

The latest NYPD budget for Fiscal 2024 — about $10 billion — is likely $1.6 billion less than needed for pay raises and overtime over the next few years, according to an analysis by the nonprofit Citizens Budget Commission.

The executive budget for the NYPD for the upcoming fiscal year beginning July 1 understated anticipated spending because it was initially prepared just before the new police labor contract announced last month, the nonpartisan commission said.

The CBC projected amount of $10 billion includes operating expenses, fringe benefits, pensions and debt service. The separate operating budget proposed by City Hall, excluding those additional amounts, comes in about $5.4 billion.

The NYPD referred questions about its budget to City Hall. The City Hall press office did not return requests for comment.

According to a spokesman for the Police Benevolent Association, the main police union that drafted and ratified the eight-year labor pact for cops, a substantial chunk of money had already been set aside in the Central Labor Reserve. The reserve is a special fund in which the city deposits anticipated labor contract increases, to pay for the raises and related pension costs.

When he announced the new police contract earlier this year, Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement that the total cost of the tentative agreement was approximately $5.5 billion through fiscal year 2027 and that it was funded for the first three years. The budget impact in fiscal 2027 will be about $2 billion, Adams added.

A spokesman for Adams said while the cost of the new contract is not yet reflected in the NYPD budget, the money is expected to be transfered as the PBA stated.

The CBC noted that the budget for the NYPD has been essentially flat for fiscal 2023 and 2024, with the department cutting close to $200 million, including $39 million for fiscal years 2024 to 2026, through a delay in hiring new cops. The NYPD is now budgeted for a uniformed strength of 34,000 officers, down from 36,000 in recent years. In 2001 the NYPD had about 41,000 officers.

Overtime spending — typically a large amount that historically can’t be predicted — has ballooned in recent months because of anti-crime initiatives in the subways and certain areas of the city. According to the CBC, the NYPD overtime budget for fiscal 2024 is $452 million, likely $350 million too low based on recent spending trends.

In March, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell acknowledged that overtime spending was at a pace that couldn’t be sustained.

The new NYPD labor contract, which was retroactive to 2017 and runs to mid-2025, raised the base starting salary of cops, an increase that will impact overtime spending. In an effort to cut down overtime and give officers more control over their personal lives, the new contract provides for a pilot program of longer shifts of 10 to 12 hours.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.