Council presses DCP on staffing as FY27 preliminary budget trims project funds

Department of City Planning officials testified to the City Council land use committee that the department's FY27 preliminary budget reflects a net $5.3 million decrease from the FY26 adopted level, driven largely by about $7 million in temporary grant funding that expired and not by cuts to core staffing.

The department said the FY26 adopted budget was $56.8 million, of which $35.9 million (63%) supported personnel services. The FY27 preliminary plan includes a new $1.7 million allocation for census work and initial work on implementing the city map charter amendment, the agency said. ‘‘This is almost entirely due to the expiration of 7 million in temporary funding, either grants or funding granted for environmental impact statements for projects that have since been approved by the council,’’ the Commissioner said in opening testimony.

Why it matters: Council members said staffing in borough offices is central to delivering neighborhood rezonings and processing private applications. Several members pressed the department on vacancy and hiring details, saying borough teams with small staffs cannot absorb large neighborhood studies and ongoing application work.

Key details and figures: DCP said it began FY26 with 364 positions and has added six, bringing headcount to 370. As of February the department reported roughly 300 active employees, four on leave and 69 vacancies (a gross vacancy rate near 19%). After excluding positions pending payroll or OMB approval and roles that were unfunded remnants of expired grants, DCP reported an ‘‘adjusted vacancy rate of about 12%.’’ The department said it has 23 positions posted and actively recruiting.

The committee also discussed permit timelines and environmental review delays. Council members cited data showing median days to enter public review for simple zoning actions at 308 days (a 19.8% year-over-year increase) and environmental-review projects jumping from 278 to 731 median days (a 162.9% increase). DCP officials said the environmental review process remains the critical path for many projects and that state-level reforms and a mayoral "speed" task force could shorten timelines.

On hiring strategies, the department said it has used recent civil-service lists for city planner roles, established hiring pools, and is developing fellowship and onboarding programs with DCAS to reduce time-to-hire.

What council members asked for: Elected members repeatedly asked DCP to provide borough-level breakdowns of staff and vacancy data and to commit to prioritizing neighborhood rezonings that have sustained community engagement. One council member asked the commissioner to visit local community meetings to signal that DCP would prioritize specific district studies.

DCP's view: The Commissioner and the department's chief operating officer acknowledged capacity limits in some borough offices, but said the administration is committed to targeted hiring and using central-office resources to support borough work. ‘‘We need much more planning, not less,’’ the Commissioner said, adding that the department is ‘‘confident in carrying this work out’’ while continuing to assess resource needs.

Next steps: Council members requested detailed borough staffing breakdowns, recruitment timelines for posted positions, and regular updates on permitting timeliness and the effect of any state environmental-review reforms on DCP workloads.