Brannan says nonprofits will be paid in 30 days if he’s comptroller

New York City comptroller candidate Justin Brannan is proposing a plan to overhaul the city’s notoriously rocky contract procurement and payment system – including a suite of potential reforms to better guarantee invoices are paid to nonprofits within 30 days of submission. 

“Nonprofits shouldn’t need a bridge loan to keep the lights on,” Brannan said in a statement. “We’d never accept this from a private company. Why should we accept it from City Hall? As comptroller, I’ll use every tool available to make sure the city keeps its promises.”

The plan, shared exclusively with City & State ahead of its release, seeks to remedy an issue that’s long had widespread consequences for many of the nonprofit organizations contracted by the city. From sheltering the homeless and providing meals to offering free child care and much more, these nonprofits play an essential role providing services on the ground. But many of these organizations face routine payment delays, threatening this work. As of April 2025, the city owed nonprofits at least $1 billion for more than 7,000 unpaid invoices – some of which dated back years. And last fiscal year, roughly 90% of nonprofit contracts were registered late, forcing providers to deliver services without finalized contracts or payments from the city. 

The issue has become a big deal over the past couple of years. Many nonprofits have been forced to take out high-interest loans in order to keep their operations going. Some have laid off staff, cut back services, or even been driven out of business as a result of late payments. Between the New York City Council, the Adams administration, and Comptroller Brad Lander’s office, the problem has already prompted audits, reports, task forces and a bevy of proposed changes, but the late payments have continued.  

As chair of the finance committee in the City Council, Brannan has already been involved in members’ efforts to tackle the issue, which he previously described as a “full blown crisis.” He and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams introduced several bills in April, including measures that would require the city to pay 80% of each year’s contract up front and establish a new city agency called the Department of Contract Services. (Currently, human services nonprofit providers are eligible to receive up to 25% of their contract value as an advance once it is registered, though there are often delays. The Adams administration is looking to further increase advance payments next fiscal year.) 

If elected comptroller, Brannan would have greater oversight over the procurement and payment process to address the problem through the office’s auditing authority. At the center of his proposed plan is the goal that all invoices be paid within 30 days of submission unless flagged for dispute. To help make this happen, the comptroller’s office would make sure all contracts are registered within 30 days of their start date – better ensuring that the city is able to prepay 25% of nonprofits’ contract value in a timely manner. Agencies that consistently miss payment deadlines would be penalized and required to submit annual corrective action plans for late contract registrations – and potentially added to an annual “Bad Actors” list of city agencies. 

Brannan’s plan also proposes setting up a new task force in the comptroller’s office dedicated to expediting nonprofit payments and clearing the existing backlog. Seeking to increase transparency with the public, Brannan has also proposed publishing agency-by-agency payment timelines, compliance reports and a new real-time dashboard to track unpaid invoices, late payments and agency performance. 

Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, Brannan’s chief rival in the competitive comptroller race, has also released a plan for tackling the longstanding payment delays.