When New Yorkers hear the word “oversight,” they tend to think of investigations after something has gone wrong — a subpoena, a report, a headline, a scandal. But New York City’s watchdog agencies do far more than clean up after misconduct. At their best, they prevent it. They identify waste before it grows and advise public servants before a mistake becomes a violation. They protect taxpayer dollars, public trust, and the basic integrity of city government.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has created a new charter revision commission charged with advancing reforms to make New York City government more efficient by reducing red tape, streamlining permitting, improving procurement, and strengthening government’s ability to execute.
But speed without guardrails can introduce risk. And, in a government as large and complex as ours, the agencies charged with detecting fraud, enforcing ethics rules, and preventing conflicts of interest are critical to making sure public dollars are spent responsibly, and government decisions serve the public interest.
The Department of Investigation (DOI) and the Conflicts of Interest Board (COIB) are two of the city’s most important integrity agencies. DOI investigates corruption, fraud, waste, and abuse across city agencies and contractors. COIB administers and enforces the city’s conflicts of interest law, providing guidance and enforcement for the hundreds of thousands of public servants who make city government run.
Their work saves money. DOI reported more than $6 million in financial recoveries last year alone. And the return on oversight can be substantial. The Federal Offices of Inspector General generated an estimated $18 in savings and other monetary benefits for every $1 invested in their work. But the larger value of strong oversight is often what never shows up in a recovery total — waste that is avoided, misconduct that is deterred, and contracts that are managed more carefully because someone is watching.
COIB’s value is just as practical. Each year, it provides legal advice to thousands of city employees, helping public servants avoid conflicts before they become violations. It’s more economical, and far better for public confidence, to help an employee get the right answer in advance of committing wrongdoing than to investigate a scandal after the fact.
Yet New York City has not given these agencies the stable funding their missions require.
DOI has lost more than 100 staff positions in recent years, even as it has handled some of the city’s most consequential corruption investigations. We can’t deny the effects we’re seeing from this turnover. The average time to complete a DOI investigation rose from 201 days in 2023 to 251 days in 2025. During the first four months of fiscal year 2026, the agency was on track to take 325 days on average to complete an investigation.
COIB faces a similar mismatch between responsibility and capacity. The agency’s headcount has barely grown since it was created in 1990, even as the city budget, workforce, and Board’s responsibilities have expanded dramatically. A modern ethics system cannot be run on a staffing model built for a much smaller city government.
The problem is not only underfunding, but also dependence. DOI and COIB must seek resources from the officials and institutions they oversee. Even when funding is allocated, vacancies can be held up or modified through the budget process. That leaves watchdogs vulnerable to political pressure, retaliation, or simple neglect.
The City Charter already recognizes that some independent agencies need budget protection. The Campaign Finance Board, the Independent Budget Office, and the Civilian Complaint Review Board all have charter-based funding protections. DOI and COIB should, too.
A separate charter commission created by the City Council in 2025 examined this issue, heard public testimony, and developed charter amendments to establish minimum budgets for DOI and COIB. Those proposals would set minimum funding levels at 0.06 percent and 0.0035 percent of the city’s total budget, respectively.
Based on the city’s $125.8 billion budget, that formula would provide approximately $75.4 million for DOI and $4.4 million for COIB. That’s about $20 million more than the city is spending on the two oversight agencies combined.
In the context of a budget this large, these are modest increases, but they would make a meaningful difference for the agencies responsible for protecting taxpayer dollars and public trust.
Adopting a guaranteed minimum budget for the city’s oversight agencies would be a straightforward, practical reform. It would give these agencies the support they need to do their work.
In the wake of recent ethical and corruption scandals at City Hall on a scale unprecedented in modern New York history, we have an opportunity to turn the page. Charter reform should be about making government work better. That means making it faster and more capable, yes. But it also means making smart investments in oversight to ensure it is honest, accountable, and more worthy of public trust. And that has the added bonus of saving the city time and money overall.