The Full Record

Proposal 5: Set Contribution Targets for Rainy Day Fund to Promote Sufficient Budgetary Reserves

New York City

General election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

✓ Fact-checked 2026-09-25: 7 claims re-checked against their sources · 1 corrected · 0 removed

A second, independent research pass re-opened every cited source for this race and corrected or removed anything the source didn’t support.

  • Corrected the Andrew Rein (Citizens Budget Commission) argumentsAgainst quote: the source does not say he 'plans to vote against it because he believes the 12% reserve benchmark is too low' -- it says he called the proposal 'deeply disappointing' because the commission did not go beyond the rainy day fund to prevent cuts to city services and layoffs. Replaced the unsupported claim with what the source actually states.
  • Verified: question text verbatim against COGE Appendix A PDF; '12% of the City's total tax revenues' and OMB/Comptroller methodology requirement confirmed verbatim in Mayor's Office release; context and Scissura quote confirmed as in other prop files.

The question on the ballot

Proposed Charter Amendment: Set Contribution Targets for Rainy Day Fund to Promote Sufficient Budgetary Reserves. Set target amount of money to hold in reserve funds, including rainy day fund, to address unexpected financial hardships in future years, and require development of methodology to calculate contributions. "Yes" requires Mayor to develop methodology for calculating deposits to rainy day fund, with deposits subject to approval in the City budget. "No" leaves laws unchanged, with no reserves target.[1]

The amendment would set a target for the City to hold in reserve funds -- including the rainy day fund -- equal to 12% of the City's total tax revenues, intended to help the City weather unexpected financial downturns. It would require the Mayor's Office of Management and Budget, in consultation with the Comptroller, to develop a methodology for calculating the City's deposits toward that target; deposits would still be subject to approval in the annual City budget. New York City currently has no charter-mandated reserve target.[1][2]

A YES vote means

Amends the City Charter to set a 12%-of-tax-revenue target for the City's reserve funds and require the Mayor's budget office, with the Comptroller, to develop a methodology for calculating contributions toward that target, with deposits still subject to budget approval.

A NO vote means

Leaves the Charter unchanged: the City has no mandated reserve-fund target and no required methodology for rainy day fund contributions.

Arguments made for

  • The fifth ballot proposal "establishes reserves target of 12%, aimed at ensuring long-term fiscal stability," and would require the Mayor's Office of Management and Budget, in consultation with the Comptroller, "to establish a deposit formula that would govern mandatory contributions to the rainy day fund," according to the Commission on Government Efficiency's release announcing the proposals.[2]
  • "Cutting nonprofit and small business procurement time by more than half, adding a formal rainy-day fund ... are exactly the kinds of reforms our industry has been calling for," said Carlo A. Scissura, President & CEO of the New York Building Congress, addressing the ballot package including this proposal.[2]

Arguments made against

  • "As written, city policy could allow withdrawals for practically any reason and avoid deposits even when revenues are strong," said Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, who called the proposal "deeply disappointing" because the commission did not go beyond the rainy day fund to also address preventing cuts to city services and public-sector layoffs.[3]

Research notes & limits

Official ballot question text and yes/no framing are taken verbatim from the Charter Revision Commission's Appendix A filing.

Sources · 3

Researched 2026-09-25. Green citations are official government records.

  1. 1.Appendix A: Proposed Questions, 2026 Charter Revision Commission · New York City Charter Revision Commission (COGE) · 2026-07-23 Official record
  2. 2.COGE Releases 5 Ballot Proposals and Final Report to Make Government Work Better for New Yorkers · NYC Mayor's Office · 2026-07-23 Official record
  3. 3.Mamdani's Government Efficiency Panel Approves 5 NYC Ballot Proposals · The City Reporter · 2026-07-23 News report