Reports

Businesses in New York were more severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020 than in the rest of the nation, and the negative impacts on small businesses with less than 500 employees persist. In addition, small businesses report facing new challenges with hiring difficulties and with supply chains. Nevertheless, one in five small businesses reported a return to normal operations in October 2021, there have been significant improvements in several sectors, and applications for new businesses are surging, which bodes well for the economic recovery.

The Office of the State Comptroller prepares this report to enhance public discussion of the State's economy and budget. OSC estimates the State’s tax revenues will grow 22 percent in SFY 2021-22, 4.7 percent SFY 2022-23, and 3.2 percent in SFY 2023-24.

Comptroller DiNapoli has launched his new online tool to monitor spending of federal recovery aid and COVID-19 relief programs in the State. The dashboard explains each federal and State program, and how much has been received and spent to date. The data will be updated monthly and New Yorkers can use the tool to understand how federal aid is used and to inform future conversations about budget priorities.

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, 2021.

The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the State of New York for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021.

State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2020-21 will long be remembered for the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and for the resilience demonstrated by New Yorkers in responding to the multitude of challenges.

The State has made progress in making high-speed connections available to New Yorkers; nevertheless, there are still significant challenges. Many predominantly rural areas remain underserved. And one in three low-income households does not have access to broadband, which magnifies disparities in access to opportunities. High-speed connections are an imperative not only for economic development, but also for equality of opportunity.

New York students with disabilities lost partial or full special education services because of school shutdowns and the shift to remote learning during the pandemic, likely exacerbating pre-existing achievement gaps. School districts should prioritize address learning loss for these students in their re-opening plans.

The historic surge in unemployment claims at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly depleted the New York State Unemployment Insurance (UI) Trust Fund, resulting in the State borrowing from the federal government to pay claims. State UI tax rates have already risen to the highest level permissible under law in 2021. Unless the State or federal government takes significant action, federal UI tax rates on employers will also increase in 2022 and beyond.

The New York State Legislature amended the State Finance Law in 2015 by adding a new Section 8-c, which provides for the establishment of a statewide electronic system to help detect and prevent fraud, waste and abuse in government spending and to help avoid improper payment of public funds.

The Office of the New York State Comptroller conducted a series of five audits designed to examine State agencies’ compliance with EO 95 to improve accountability and support continuous improvement of Open Data, increasing its benefits to the public and government entities.

State Fiscal Year 2020-21 was another productive year for the Office of Unclaimed Funds, returning $400 million to rightful owners.

The COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented challenges for the State’s regional transportation authorities by disrupting operations, decreasing ridership, and severely reducing revenues; however, these authorities reported that federal aid helped them weather pandemic deficits. If ridership continues to languish and does not return to pre-pandemic levels, the authorities will need additional revenue from other sources to continue to provide services at current levels—or may be faced with limiting services.

Personal income in New York State has surpassed pre-pandemic levels; while this is a positive development, there are two causes for concern. First, growth is primarily due to transfer receipts paid to New Yorkers from the government, which account for more than 20 percent of personal income. Second, earnings in seven industrial sectors, including the leisure and hospitality sector that was hardest hit during the pandemic, have not yet returned to pre-2020 levels.

In 2020, OSC completed 10 audits of preschool special education providers' expenses submitted to SED. These audits cumulatively identified over $4.4 million in recommended disallowances, or more than 3 percent of the total claimed expenses of $139.3 million for the audit period. 

The State Fiscal Year 2021-22 Enacted Budget Financial Plan reflects a remarkable improvement in the State’s financial condition, as New York and the nation have begun to recover from the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, there are significant risks to the plan that can be managed if policymakers commit to further strengthening the State’s rainy day reserve funds; exercise discipline by using temporary federal resources for non-recurring obligations over the multi-year plan period; consider the long-term sustainability of major spending programs; closely monitor personal income tax collections and taxpayer behavior; and restore effective State debt management practices, including establishment of new and meaningful debt limitations and, if practicable, greater use of “pay-as-you-go” capital.

The COVID-19 pandemic spurred a change in how people sought and received medical care; rather than visiting medical practitioners in person, increasing numbers of people used telehealth services. While telehealth usage in New York and nationally has declined since the pandemic peak, it remains well above pre-pandemic levels, though still only a small share of overall utilization.

DiNapoli's office issues a state cash report every month identifying actual state revenues and spending from the prior month. The cash report focuses primarily on the General Fund and All Governmental Funds. The General Fund is the major operating fund of the state. All Governmental Funds includes General, Special Revenue, Debt Service and Capital Projects funds, as well as funds from the federal government.

Previous Monthly Cash Basis Reports

The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic shutdown quickly led to soaring unemployment rates in New York; those rates subsequently declined slowly but steadily. However, for New Yorkers who face unique challenges due to a disability, unemployment rates increased more quickly and have remained stubbornly high, disrupting progress that had been made leading up to the pandemic.

Of the total contracts reported by State agencies in 2020, 78 percent were processed after their start or renewal dates, the highest percentage since 2013 when the figure was 87 percent.