A nonpartisan budget watchdog is urging New York City's Charter Revision Commission to add four major changes to the city's governing document, including a requirement for statistically valid resident feedback surveys every four years and stricter rules governing the city's Rainy Day Fund. Andrew S. Rein, President of the Citizens Budget Commission, delivered the recommendations in testimony on June 11, 2026, arguing the changes would modernize government, improve efficiency, and strengthen accountability to New Yorkers. The proposals focus on embedding performance management systems and resident input directly into the city's constitutional framework rather than leaving them to the discretion of individual administrations.
The four Charter revision proposals break down into two categories: three aimed at modernizing government management and one focused on fiscal protection. The first would require the city to conduct and publish a statistically valid resident feedback survey at least every four years, with results reported at the Community Board level and broken down by race, ethnicity, and household income. The city last conducted such a survey in 2008, though CBC ran similar efforts in 2017, 2023, and 2025. The second proposal calls for a comprehensive citywide performance management system, which doesn't currently exist, that would require the Mayor to designate a chief performance officer and establish cascading reviews from City Hall down to individual programs. The third would overhaul the Mayor's Management Report to shift from measuring inputs and outputs—what the city is doing—to outcomes, quality, and efficiency metrics that show how well the city is performing. The fourth proposal addresses the Rainy Day Fund, which currently operates under laws that don't mandate deposits, restrict withdrawals to emergencies, or set target balance sizes.
According to Rein, the resident feedback survey would ensure that input into city government "does not depend on having money, power, or the time to attend a hearing." The testimony argues that New York doesn't have a citywide performance management system that promotes quality and efficiency, despite efforts in various agencies and programs. On the Mayor's Management Report, the testimony states it "focuses too heavily on measures of what the City is doing—inputs, processes, and outputs—rather than measures of how well the City is doing its work—that is, outcomes, quality, and efficiency." Regarding the Rainy Day Fund, Rein said current laws are inadequate because they fail to mandate deposits, restrict withdrawals to actual emergencies, or provide for the target size needed to protect the city's long-term finances.
The proposals are designed to create what Rein calls "durable structures" that wouldn't dictate every managerial choice of future administrations but would lock in accountability mechanisms regardless of who's in office. The performance management system would require both robust data collection and management review processes where leaders identify problems, track improvement plans, and foster accountability through regular reviews. The resident survey would capture how New Yorkers feel about quality of life in their neighborhoods and rate city services, creating a feedback loop independent of political connections or free time. The Rainy Day Fund changes would prohibit withdrawals until the Mayor and City Council enact detailed rules on deposits, withdrawals, and target fund size—a safeguard the testimony suggests would ensure "wise stewardship" during future recessions or emergencies.
Rein urged the Commission to focus only on changes appropriate for a charter document, which should define core powers and structures rather than details better left to laws or administrative practice. Given the Commission's tight timeline—proposals must be fully developed by the end of July—he recommended prioritizing work that could draw on research from the previous Commission and setting an agenda for continued work on government efficiency. The testimony frames these four proposals as foundational reforms that would make city government more responsive to residents, more transparent in its performance, and better protected against future fiscal shocks.