City Hall, NY – Ahead of the City Council’s Executive Budget hearing by the Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management and the Committee on Finance on Monday at 10 AM, the Council identified remaining gaps in funding for sanitation services within the Mayor’s Fiscal Year 2026 Executive Budget that leave key initiatives unfunded. While litter basket service funding outlined in the Council’s Preliminary Budget Response was addressed with $29.7 million in the mayor’s recent budget, along with the restoration of previous budget cuts by the mayor, key program investments remain missing. These omissions include Council priorities to restore funding for community composting, syringe litter cleanup, illegal dumping enforcement, and waste bin reimbursements for New Yorkers to afford complying with the City’s new containerization rules.  

The following programs were outlined in the Council’s Preliminary Budget Response, but were left out of the Mayor’s FY26 Executive Budget:

Community Composting Program For All Continuation

The Council has proposed allocating $7 million in funding to support the continuation and expansion of the Community Composting Program for All, ensuring citywide access to reliable, decentralized composting options. In the Fiscal Year 2025 budget, the Council provided $6.25 million in discretionary funding to support local composting partners. This year’s proposal calls for an additional $7 million in baseline funding by the administration to stabilize operations, expand outreach, and scale capacity. An investment of $7 million in community composting can support staffing, equipment and site operations for local composting, enabling local partners to divert organic waste from landfills and process it locally into compost. It also strengthens public education and outreach efforts, helping more individuals participate in waste separation and reducing overall landfill bound waste.

DSNY Bins Program

The Council has proposed allocating $10.7 million in one-time funding to implement the waste bin distribution and reimbursement program established by Int. 1126-A, which requires the Department of Sanitation to provide official NYC waste bins to eligible building owners or reimburse those who purchase bins on or before August 1, 2026. Eligible buildings include one- to two family homes where the owner meets the income requirement and is enrolled in the STAR or Enhanced STAR tax benefit program. This program promotes equitable compliance with the City’s new containerization requirements by reducing the financial burden on low-to-moderate-income and senior homeowners, ensuring they have access to the official waste bins needed to meet sanitation standards and avoid fines.

Containerization Policy Trash Bin Acquisition Fund

The City is rolling out a new set of rules regarding trash placed on sidewalks in an effort to clean up the streets and cut down on the rat population. The new rules require trash to be put in bins rather than loose bags left on the sidewalk. These rules are being introduced in phases for different types of buildings and businesses, all with the goal of keeping garbage off the streets and making collection more organized. Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), which help clean busy commercial areas, are being required to put the trash they collect into bins too. Many BIDs are worried because the special bins, like CitiBins, are expensive and they do not have the resources available in their budgets to purchase them and may leave BIDs unable to continue funding other clean-up services they finance. Under these new regulations, fines will be levied if trash bags are placed outside a bin. To help BIDs comply with the Department of Sanitation’s new rules on containerization, the City should commit $5 million to support BIDs by supplementing the purchase of containers. These funds will support the purchase of 2,500 Empire Bins for BIDs.

Syringe Clean-Up Services Expansion

Syringe Clean-Up Services are a crucial element in reducing public health harms to New Yorkers from syringe litter. The City’s harm reduction syringe programs have reduced the chances of contracting disease and the number of new HIV cases among syringe users by 95 percent in the last 20 years. The City must expand sanitation services to safely collect used syringes from public sidewalks, streets, and other high-traffic areas in communities.

Council initiatives for Sanitation   

The Council’s funding initiatives address service gaps across the City, including NYC Cleanup, which provides additional neighborhood clean-up services throughout New York City by providing $14 million distributed across every City Council district to support litter collection efforts and graffiti removal. It is critical that this funding, left out of the Mayor’s Executive Budget, is included in the final budget through a continued full commitment towards Council discretionary funding.

“Keeping our city clean requires real investment in the infrastructure and services New Yorkers rely on every day,” said Council Member Shaun Abreu, Chair of the Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management. “That’s why we’re doubling down on our call for the Mayor to restore community composting, invest in stronger enforcement tools like illegal dumping cameras, and provide containers for BIDs and supplemental cleaning providers. These are smart, targeted investments that deliver the clean streets New Yorkers deserve.”

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