New York City’s miscellaneous revenues, which include water and sewer charges, fines, licenses, permits, interest income, rental income, and other non-tax sources, reached an estimated $6.7 billion in fiscal year 2025. This represents an 11% increase from fiscal year 2019 but is a slower pace compared to the 29% growth seen in the previous six years. The data comes from a report released by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.
“The pandemic significantly disrupted how New York City generates revenue for items such as construction permits, community college fees and taxi licenses, some of which have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels,” DiNapoli said. “A number of miscellaneous revenues that have recently boosted revenue, including interest income, may soften in the coming years. These shifts warrant further study of the city’s many fines, fees, and charges to understand their impact on revenue stability and resident affordability.”
Miscellaneous revenues are made up of both recurring funds—such as water and sewer charges, fines and forfeitures, service charges, licenses and permits—and one-time payments like asset sales or litigation settlements. In fiscal year 2025 these revenues accounted for about 8% of total city funds.
Between fiscal years 2019 and 2021, miscellaneous revenues dropped nearly 14%. This decline was linked to reduced activity in areas like construction permits, park concessions, taxi licenses, parking meters, vehicle-related violations and university enrollment due to remote work policies and limited travel during the pandemic.
Fines and forfeitures fell by 2.7% in fiscal year 2020 compared to the previous year and declined again by 4% in fiscal year 2021. Vehicle-related fines were a major factor in this decrease as social distancing measures kept people off the roads. However, by fiscal year 2025 these revenues rebounded with a projected increase of 27% over fiscal year 2019 levels—a trend led by higher speed camera fines.
Charges for services—including tuition from City University of New York (CUNY) colleges—are expected to have generated more than $1.04 billion in fiscal year 2025. There are over one hundred different types of service charges collected by the city such as parking fees or building inspections. Despite recent gains in CUNY enrollment after pandemic lows, revenue from community colleges remains down nearly 17% since fiscal year 2019.
Licenses, permits and franchises brought in an estimated $730 million for fiscal year 2025. Within this category franchises make up the largest share but are projected to be down by about 4% since fiscal year 2019 due largely to fewer cable television franchises as consumers shift toward streaming services online. Permits overall remain below pre-pandemic levels—down about 13%, mainly because construction permit activity has not fully recovered; licenses also dropped about 14%, driven partly by lower demand for taxi licenses following Local Law 147 of 2018 which paused most new For-Hire Vehicle license issuances.
Water and sewer charges represent the largest component among miscellaneous revenues; these increased by roughly half (50.7%) between fiscal years 2019 and 2025 even during pandemic disruptions when rates rose almost fifteen percent over two years.
Speed camera enforcement expanded after City Council authorized installations at hundreds of school zones starting in fiscal year 2019; cameras began operating around-the-clock beginning in mid-2022 with additional authority granted for lower speed limits on certain streets starting in calendar year 2024. The city issued approximately five-and-a-half million speeding tickets via school zone cameras last year—a rise from under five million two years prior—and expects about $272 million from these fines this fiscal cycle.
Interest income saw significant volatility: it plummeted more than ninety percent early during the pandemic as federal interest rates dropped near zero but rebounded sharply after rate hikes aimed at controlling inflation—with interest earnings reaching an estimated $628 million for this past year.
Looking ahead there are several risks that could affect future growth: construction permit filings remain slow especially in Manhattan; approval times have lengthened; community college enrollment is recovering only gradually; franchise fees face headwinds from changing consumer habits; all could put downward pressure on miscellaneous revenue streams according to DiNapoli’s office.
