Reports

As Trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund, I have a responsibility to safeguard the Fund’s investments, which I manage for the benefit of the more than one million participants in the New York State and Local Retirement System.

This Report on Estimated Receipts and Disbursements for State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2018-19 through SFY 2020-21, issued pursuant to Section 23 of the State Finance Law, is intended to enhance analysis and discussion of the State’s economic condition and the State Budget.

Job markets go through cycles of ups and downs. Further, within New York State, employment trends can be very different from one region to another. But, over the last ten years, at least one sector – health care – has established a consistent pattern of growth across the State.

In 2009 and 2010, President Obama and Congress enacted two major laws—the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and the Affordable Care Act—that provided significant new funding to help New York and other states provide essential services to the people.

Excel file with supporting data

The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the New York State and Local Retirement System (the System or NYSLRS) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018.

As of March 31, 2018, the State’s General Fund cash balance was $9.4 billion, the highest in recent history. But this cushion is expected to shrink: the State’s Financial Plan anticipates that more than $3.9 billion, or 42 percent of this figure, will be used in the 2018-19 fiscal year.

New York is home to over 35,000 farms, covering approximately 7.3 million acres or nearly a quarter of the State’s total land area.

New York State has a proud history of working to make health insurance coverage as widely available as possible, to promote public health and improve New Yorkers’ quality of life.

The Enterprise Fraud, Waste and Abuse Prevention and Detection Act (Act) of 2015 (State Finance Law Section 8-c) called for the establishment of a statewide electronic system in New York to help detect and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse in government spending and avoid improper payment of public moneys.

The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the State of New York for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018.

This report on the use of overtime by New York State agencies examines patterns over the past ten calendar years. The total cost of overtime in calendar year 2017 was more than $761 million, covering roughly 17.5 million overtime hours worked.

In governmental budgeting, there can sometimes be a tendency to focus on the short term. At any level of government, taxpayers and those who depend on public services can suffer if officials don’t ensure a strong financial foundation for the long term as well.

The New York State Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) Asset Management and Financial Institution Strategy (Chapter 171, Laws of 2010) was enacted to codify and replicate best practices for providing MWBEs that are asset managers, investment banks and financial and professional service providers with the opportunity to offer services to fiduciary-controlled entities established by New York State law.

This report identifies the number of late payments, the number of days to process late payments, the amount of interest paid and the reasons for the delays.

Of the total contracts, 2,210 contracts (54 percent) were processed late, after their start or renewal dates. This is a modest reduction from 2016, when 59 percent were reported late, and continues a decline in the percentage of late contracts from the five-year high of 87 percent reported late in 2013.

Credit cards are the most commonly used vehicle for consumer borrowing, and thus play an important role in both the overall economy and individual households’ finances.

The New York State Common Retirement Fund holds and invests the assets of the New York State and Local Retirement System on behalf of more than one million State and local government employees and retirees and their beneficiaries.

The New York State Health Insurance Program (NYSHIP), administered by the State Department of Civil Service (Civil Service), is one of the nation’s largest public sector health insurance programs. NYSHIP covers over 1.2 million active and retired State, local government and school district employees, and their dependents.

The State Budget determines how much can be spent in various program areas and how the necessary revenue will be raised. In recent years, annual budgets have increasingly become broader policy-making documents.

Each year, thousands of New Yorkers take the opportunity, while paying their State taxes, to support a variety of charitable purposes through the State’s personal income tax check-off programs.