Committee considers shrinking Board of Estimates, expanding Board of Finance

At the charter review committee's first hearing, members discussed proposals to change the composition and appointment rules for two key financial oversight bodies: the Board of Estimates and the Board of Finance.

Shinoa Gardner of the council president's staff outlined a proposal to reduce the Board of Estimates from five members to three — the mayor, the council president and the comptroller — and to tightly specify which officials may serve as designees. Councilwoman Odette Ramos, who has raised the issue previously, said the current five‑member board "has been talked about as having heavily weighted towards the mayor" because two designees typically serve at the mayor's appointment.

Another proposal would increase the Board of Finance from five to seven members by adding the council president and the city solicitor, or their designees, and require that the chair or vice chair not be an elected official or their designee. The proposal also would continue allowing the mayor, council president and comptroller to appoint an additional member each.

Proponents said the changes are intended to provide a more balanced oversight posture for the city's fiscal decision points. The committee asked staff to examine how proposed membership changes would interact with existing charter text and related code and to provide drafting capacity estimates.