💰🚖 NYC TLC Set To Present ~$60 Million Budget To City Council
NYC TLC will formally present 2024/25 budget and previous fiscal year management report to City Council tomorrow at 2pm. TLC would like to hire an additional 54 Enforcement Division inspectors
TLC’s 2024/25 budget is ~$60 million and its budgeted headcount is 555, which includes an additional 54 Enforcement Division inspectors
As of December 2023, TLC’s actual headcount was 427 (indicating many positions remain unfilled)
Average budgeted spend per TLC employee is ~$107,000. It lowers to ~$96,000 per TLC employee when you exclude $6 million in contractor allocated budget
Average budgeted spend per actively licensed TLC vehicle, including taxis, is ~$500
It appears the majority of TLC’s revenue comes from Taxi / FHV Licenses, “Fines and Forfeitures” are estimated to generate $11.6 million in “miscellaneous” revenues
The NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) will formally present its Fiscal 2025 budget, and a preliminary management report on Fiscal 2024 performance, to the City Council’s Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, tomorrow, Thursday, March 14th at 2pm. NYC’s Fiscal Year runs from July 1st to June 30th of the following year. In other words, the Fiscal 2025 budget runs from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025.
NYC TLC Presentation
Below, we attach TLC’s budget presentation, prepared by senior financial analyst Michael Sherman, for tomorrow’s NYC Council session. We won’t go over the entire 8 page PDF, but we provide some highlights below.
NYC TLC’s Annual Budget Is ~$60 Million
Average budgeted spend per TLC employee is ~$107,000 ($59.5 million / 555 employees). It lowers to ~$96,000 per TLC employee when you exclude $6 million in contractor allocated budget. Average budgeted spend per active TLC-licensed vehicle is ~$500 ($59.5 million / ~120,000 active FHVs, including taxis).
TLC Wants To Hire 54 Additional TLC Inspectors
If all of TLC’s vacancies were filled, including an additional 54 Enforcement Division (mostly?) inspectors, the regulator would employ 555 individuals.
TLC employed 421 individuals, as of December 2023, although the regulator had a Fiscal 2023/24 budgeted headcount allocation of 505.
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TLC’s Revenue Mostly Comes From License & Inspection Fees (We Think)
In the City Council presentation there is an ambiguously-labelled table that uses the term “miscellaneous” when discussing what appears to be TLC’s core revenue sources (please correct us, if we are mistaken! 🙏). Below is our interpretation of the the table in the City Council report, but (again) perhaps we are misunderstanding the table.
The TLC makes about two thirds of its revenues on “Taxi Licenses”. We believe this number includes the initial/biennial FHV License (TLC Plate) renewal fee of $550. We would also assume NYC’s fiscal Q2 2024 would have included about ~$5 million from the ~10,000 newly issued EV-only TLC Plates in late 2023.
For example, if there are ~110,000 TLC-Plated vehicles and we assume 50% renew every year (i.e., all licenses would renew within a two year period), it would result in ~$30 million of fees (55,000 FHV Licenses * $550 FHV License Fee). Note, most TLC drivers and fleets will be familiar with a biennial $625 FHV License fee figure ($550 + $75 inspection if not a new vehicle).
Interestingly, the TLC estimates $11.6 million, or about 20% of its planned budget, are from “Fines and Forfeitures” 🤔.
2023 TLC Annual Report
The TLC also published a 2023 Annual Report in January 2024, that briefly discusses its budget and headcount. We think the Annual Report provides useful context. We attach the report below 👇.
City Council’s Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Finally, outside of the Mayor and TLC, NYC Council’s Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is, in our opinion, the most influential governing body that can direct NYC for-hire transportation policy.
Below we list the City Council Members who sit on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers (Chair)
