Reports

The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the State of New York for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010.

In New York State, higher education is a major industry. The State’s 269 degree-granting colleges and universities employed 266,110 people and paid out $13.2 billion in wages in 2009.

The 2010-11 State Fiscal Year (SFY) began more than 100 days ago, but the State budget is still incomplete. Since March, the Executive has proposed and the Legislature has enacted 12 temporary spending bills to allow governmental functions to continue during the budget delay.

In 2009, the Division of State and Local Government Accountability in the Office of the State Comptroller audited State agency and municipal government implementation of programs funded by the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF or Fund), a dedicated fund that provides support for State and municipal parks, municipal recycling programs and control of water pollution, as well as the majority of State support for conservation of open space and other important environmental programs.

The proposed State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2010-11 Executive Budget released in January projected a five-year cumulative current services deficit exceeding $60 billion.

In State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2009-10, All Funds spending for New York State amounted to $126.9 billion. Of this amount, approximately $38.4 billion or 30.2 percent was spent on Medicaid.

While the State ended State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2009-10 with a positive General Fund balance and all restricted reserves intact, this was accomplished because the Executive delayed $1.1 billion more in payments than had been anticipated in February.

The General Fund is the main operating fund of the State and is traditionally used to measure the State’s projected budget deficit.

One tenet of the “smart growth” movement is that communities should strive to preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty and critical environmental areas.

The film and television production industry plays an important role in the economy of New York State, but states across the nation and certain Canadian provinces are aggressively competing for film and television jobs by offering tax incentives.

New York State has relied far too heavily on debt for far too long. Ten years after enacting legislation to slow the growth in borrowing and end the use of debt for fiscal gimmicks, New York continues to rely heavily on debt. A

The need for fiscal reform in New York State could not be more compelling. Despite significant spending cuts and revenue increases proposed in the Executive Budget, New York State still faces major projected budget gaps in future years—a cumulative three-year General Fund budget deficit that could exceed $30 billion through State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2013-14.

Agriculture is important to New York State’s economy, and takes place in almost every region of the State.

The Executive Budget released in January 2010 proposed to roll the projected $500 million current year General Fund deficit into State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2010-11.

The current recession has had a significant impact on New York State’s residents. Jobs have been lost in virtually all industries in New York State, and the unemployment rate reached 9 percent in December 2009—a rate last seen in April 1983.

The Executive has proposed a spending plan for State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2010-11 that relies heavily on recurring spending cuts and revenue actions to produce a cash balanced budget, including provisions to roll a projected current year deficit forward.

New York State has already been forced to take extraordinary measures to meet its existing obligations in State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2009-10. The decline in revenue associated with the most severe recession since the Great Depression and the State’s continuing failure to address its worsening structural budget imbalance have combined to create a severe cash flow crunch.

This Report on Estimated Receipts and Disbursements for State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2009-10 through SFY 2011-12, issued pursuant to Chapter 1 of the Laws of 2007, is intended to facilitate continuing discussion of the State’s economic condition and the State Budget.

New York State and its local governments are responsible for the care and maintenance of more than 113,000 miles of highways and more than 17,400 bridges.

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, 2009.