The State Comptroller’s Office is keeping tabs on City Hall — arguing in a new report released Friday the city should be more transparent about publishing data, especially as it tries to add staff amid a hiring crunch and a changed post-pandemic world.

“There was substantial staffing loss,” Rahul Jain, deputy comptroller at the Office of the NYS Comptroller, said. “As other people went to the private sector, or maybe left work when it was [time to] return to work for the city. But we saw a major staffing decline, which actually led to some savings, budget savings for the city, but was pressuring agency services.”

Since the pandemic, the city has struggled to attract and retain government workers. Data shows although the city’s budget grew 20% larger compared to 2019 — now standing at $115 billion — staffing levels are six percent lower.

There’s “severe” understaffing, especially in the Department of Investigations and the Administration for Children’s Services. Some argue it hurts agency performance. 

“In the Department of Investigations, there are accusations of corruption or malfeasance. You need those boots on the ground to do those investigations. If you are too short staffed, you won’t do those investigations — or do them too slowly and can allow corruption to fester,” Andrew Rein, president of the fiscally conservative Citizens Budget Commission, said. “Frankly, New York spends more on many services than almost anywhere. We need to know how much we’re spending for each service and whether we’re getting the value.”

Now, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says City Hall needs to do a better job of showing New Yorkers that their tax dollars are being put to good use.

DiNapoli’s office started organizing data compiled by City Hall and released in the annual Mayor’s Management Report in an attempt to increase transparency. The report they released Friday says the Adams administration still needs to make improvements.

“It really covers so many aspects of city life: everything from police, to garbage, to the cleanliness of parks and streets, right?” said Jain, explaining the data.

Democratic City Councilwoman Gale Brewer chairs the chamber’s committee on oversight and investigations.

“Just the other day I was dealing with the Fire Department, because as you know, there are fires in these shops where batteries are stored,” she said. “So I said ‘why haven’t you done the rules and regulations that would help us padlock?’ so, you have all of your ducks in line to make sure that it sticks.”

Brewer said the FDNY told her they didn’t have enough lawyers to handle the case. She says the city’s strict rules mandating in-person work is a factor in hiring.

“You lose the momentum of hiring and I think that’s what happened to the city of New York. Other cities went right into virtual or remote. They didn’t have a veto on that, so you can see some of the agencies are doing well and some of them are not. And that’s what we learn from this report.”

It’s not all bad news. DiNapoli says 2024 was the first year the city hired more individuals compared to the previous year since 2019, like the Department of Homeless Services.

“City Hall can look at Tom Dinapoli’s reports, can look at our reports to redouble their efforts to get stuff done and have the management citywide that cascades down from the mayor down to the frontline, so we’re managing services well and delivering the results that New Yorkers need,” Rein said.

City Hall told NY1 in a statement the Adams administration has hired roughly 8,500 new city employees through a series of hiring halls.

“We have made targeted investments to staffing across city agencies, which has allowed us to conduct more — and faster — housing inspections, provide additional support to child protection specialists, connect more New Yorkers to financial empowerment services and more. Thanks to our strong fiscal management, we were able to move away from hiring restrictions earlier this year and make certain exceptions,” Adams spokeswoman Liz Garcia said.