A conversation with Louisa Chafee of the city's Independent Budget Office
New York City's budget is arguably more honest than it's been in years — with an asterisk. Louisa Chafee runs the Independent Budget Office, the charter-created agency that tells New Yorkers where their money goes. In this episode of "After Hours," Chafee and Jamie discuss why Mayor Zohran Mamdani deserves credit for accurately budgeting expenditures after years of the Adams administration hiding billions in shortfalls, why the revenue side of the ledger is built on optimism and a property tax increase the City Council doesn't support, and how underfunded state mandates on class size and special education are eating up revenue. She also breaks down why government rarely pauses to ask whether it's working efficiently — and what the new administration's Chief Savings Officers might actually find. Plus: a lightning round on nonprofit payment delays, public bathrooms, Sunnyside Yards and why the Mayor's Management Report has ballooned from 200 pages to over 500 without getting more useful.
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