Queens Borough board adopts FY2027 priorities after presentation flags per-capita shortfalls

Budget Director Fanny Lynn delivered a line-by-line review of the mayor's FY2027 preliminary budget at a Queens Borough Board meeting, highlighting broad revenue projections and a series of agency-level shortfalls and priorities for the borough.

Lynn said the citywide primary FY2027 budget was forecast at about $127 billion, with tax revenue of roughly $91.44 billion. She listed key revenue and grant figures — property tax at about $36.65 billion, personal income tax near $21.2 billion, sales tax about $11.43 billion, federal grants roughly $7.26 billion and state grants about $20.3 billion — and then walked through agency-level numbers and borough recommendations.

The presentation emphasized that the Queens Borough President's Office allocation would fall from about $6.7 million in FY2026 to roughly $5.8 million in FY2027 (a decrease Lynn quantified as approximately $941,000). Lynn repeatedly said Queens receives the lowest per-capita capital support among the five boroughs and framed that gap as an equity concern in requests to restore and increase funding for the borough's offices and community boards.

Among the agency-specific points Lynn recommended to the borough board were restoring and enhancing community board operating and capital funds (Queens' 14 boards were allocated about $4.05 million in the proposal, a decrease of roughly $33,000 from FY26); prioritizing capital for middle-school construction and CT programs in Queens in the Department of Education budget; increasing support for senior centers and in-home meals in the Department for the Aging; expanding after-school and weekend youth programs through DYCD; and boosting capital and operating support for Queens Health + Hospitals and other local health facilities, including expedited work on the Jamaica Hospital Cancer Center.

Lynn flagged public-safety and infrastructure priorities as well: reopening or expanding firehouses (including Engine 261 and a Northern Queens firehouse), adding EMTs and generators, more neighborhood coordination officers and additional school crossing guards and patrol cars for the NYPD, targeted street and drainage capital funds for DOT, and increased catch-basin cleaning and sewer improvements through DEP to address a high volume of sewer backup complaints in Queens.

During a lengthy Q&A, community board members and residents raised localized infrastructure concerns: groundwater and pump stations in southeast Queens, the status of a replacement sanitation garage near Ravenswood Houses, the condition of a long-neglected bike lane on Northern Boulevard, school capacity and middle-school seats, and how catch-basin inspection and street regrading should be coordinated among DEP, DOT and borough staff. Lynn and borough staff pledged to follow up, encouraged residents to 311 problem locations, and said some programs had been moved to state funding, requiring intergovernmental coordination.

The borough then moved to a roll-call vote on the borough board's FY2027 priority package. Michael Carier, director of community boards, conducted the vote by having community board chairs and city council representatives state their votes into the mic. Community boards that registered a yes vote (named in roll call) included CB1 (Evie Hensopoulos), CB3, CB4 (Marina Champino), CB6 (Salo Aida), CB7 (Frank Mio), CB9 (Sher Algedo), CB10 (Betty Brighton), CB11 (Paul Deandto), CB12 (Reverend Carlen Thorbs), CB13 (Brian Block) and CB14 (Dolores). Eric Rick Forte, speaking for Council Member Vicky Paladino, recorded a "yay" for the council representation; multiple other council representatives' offices abstained. The tellers announced, "the yays have it," and the package was adopted by the borough board.

Deputy Borough President Michael Min, standing in for Borough President Richards, closed the meeting by thanking staff and the fiscal team and noting the borough would work with Albany to address federal funding shortfalls without increasing local property taxes. He announced the next borough board meeting and said the office will circulate the finalized priority package with the amendments and corrections discussed during the meeting.

Actions and next steps: The adopted borough board package will be submitted to the mayor, the New York City Council and the city's Office of Management and Budget as the Queens Borough Board's FY2027 budget priorities. Borough staff committed to follow up on the localized infrastructure items raised in Q&A and to incorporate the amendments noted during the meeting into the final submission.