Reports

In 2015, the number of counties exceeding the tax cap decreased substantially and only six counties exceeded the cap—a decrease of 54 percent from 2014. Among the counties that stayed within the tax levy limit in 2015, many have levied right up to the limit. Of these 51 counties, 23 levied taxes that amounted to 99 percent or more of their allowable tax levy limit. This may be due in part to the newly enacted Property Tax Freeze Credit.

County Tax Cap Data as of April 30, 2015 - Excel

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 (or firms) that are asset managers, investment banks and financial and professional service firms with the opportunity to offer services to fiduciary-controlled entities established by New York State law.

Fiscal Stress Monitoring System (FSMS) has five categories of indicators: fund balance, liquidity, short-term debt, operating deficits, and fixed costs. These indicators contribute to a local government’s final classification of Significant Stress, Moderate Stress, Susceptible to Stress or No Designation.

Although the overall results have improved, State agencies continue to have difficulty meeting the established time frames. In 2014, State agencies reported that 77 percent of grant contracts with NFPs were not approved by the start or renewal date. This compares with 87 percent as reported in 2013.

In the 2014-2015 fiscal year, State agencies paid interest totaling $1,525,112 representing a decrease of $189,713 from the prior year.

IDAs are important for economic development in the State, but local officials need to improve their scrutiny over projects so that taxpayers know if their community is receiving promised jobs and economic benefits. Recent audits have found deficiencies in IDA processes for approving and monitoring projects, as well as for recouping benefits from projects that have failed to meet their goals.

New York spent $143.9 billion in State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2014-15 on an All Governmental Funds (All Funds) basis, an increase of $6.4 billion or 4.6 percent from SFY 2013-14.

The Office of the State Comptroller received 23,591 contract transactions valued at $44.4 billion, both new contracts and contract amendments, in the 2014 calendar year. The average time from submission to final sign-off was 11.6 days. Over three-quarters of these transactions (78.5 percent), representing over 75 percent of the aggregate contract dollar value, were reviewed by OSC in 15 days or less. An additional 15.6 percent were processed in 16 to 30 days.

In the sixth year of national economic recovery, New York State’s short-term financial condition continues to improve.

Medicaid provides health insurance coverage to more than 6 million New Yorkers and is projected to cost a total of $62 billion from federal, State and local sources in State Fiscal Year 2016.

The State has approximately 639 local authorities operating outside of New York City. These authorities generally operate without many of the constraints and controls over day-to-day operations required of municipal governments. OSC audits have helped to shine a light on questionable practices from board member compensation to the selection and results of economic development projects. OSC continues to advocate for express audit authority over LDCs and other not-for-profit local authorities, better reporting requirements for all local authorities and legislation to achieve more transparent results. 

This report by the Office of the State Comptroller on overtime use by New York State agencies examines overtime patterns over the past eight calendar years. The total cost of overtime in calendar year 2014 was more than $661 million for over 15.9 million overtime hours worked.

The sales tax generates 8 percent of all local government revenues in New York State and 27 percent of county revenues. This report examines the general sales and use tax imposed for local governments in the State. It covers the sales tax rates in counties and cities, and trends in sales tax revenues for local governments. It also includes an up-to-date county-level summary of sales tax sharing arrangements and discusses recent activity in the taxation of Internet sales.

New York’s Medicaid program is undergoing major changes, with ambitious plans for further modifications just ahead. The State’s efforts to slow spending growth are showing measurable progress, with average beneficiary costs declining while enrollment continues to grow.

The average bonus paid in New York City's security industry rose by 2 percent to $172,860 in 2014.

The Executive Budget for State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2015-16 was released by the Executive on January 21, 2015. On February 20, the Executive submitted 30-day amendments to the proposed Budget.

On February 9, 2015, the City of New York submitted to the New York State Financial Control Board a revised financial plan (the “February Plan”) covering fiscal years 2015 through 2019. The February Plan incorporates the Mayor’s preliminary budget for FY 2016 and developments during the first half of the current fiscal year.

Farms are an essential and diverse part of New York State’s economy, contributing significantly to employment, incomes and tax revenues across the Empire State.

As the national economy gains momentum in its sixth year of inconsistent recovery from the Great Recession, New York State's fiscal condition also continues to improve.

The number of school districts overriding the tax cap has declined each year. In general, school districts’ decisions to override the tax cap were based, at least in part, on necessity. When examining the relationship between fiscal stress and tax cap overrides, we found that fiscally stressed school districts were nearly three times more likely to override the tax cap when compared to school districts that were not designated as stressed.

2013-2015 Tax Cap Data - Excel