Reports

The Comptroller is responsible for ensuring State and local governments use taxpayer money effectively and efficiently, including through the review of contracts. This year’s State budget allowed at least $11 billion in spending without a competitive process or the benefit of an OSC review. OSC’s oversight adds tremendous value, and contract review was completed in an average of just 5.3 days in 2021. A bill to statutorily restore certain OSC oversight authority for billions of dollars in contract spending should be enacted in this legislative session.

From 2010 to 2020, Brooklyn experienced substantial economic growth, with employment and business growth rates outpacing the rest of New York City. However, the pandemic halted its economic progress and exacerbated existing inequalities in the borough. Brooklyn’s economy is showing signs of recovering to pre-pandemic levels, but City and State officials will need to collaborate with community leaders to ensure an equitable recovery.

The personal income tax (PIT) is the single largest source of revenue for the State of New York, accounting for two out of every three tax dollars collected by the State. Accordingly, the State’s overall financial health and its ability to sustain investments in public services is linked to PIT collections. This report describes recent trends in personal income taxpayer filings between 2015 and 2019. 

Local government sales tax collections grew by 15.7% in April compared to the same month in 2021.Overall, local collections totaled $1.7 billion, up $232 million from April of last year.

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Historic federal aid and better-than-expected revenues allowed for a steep increase in spending in the Enacted Budget. However, sustaining new recurring commitments over a longer time period may be difficult as new economic risks emerge, federal funding is spent down, and temporary tax revenues sunset. Bolstering reserve funds is essential for ensuring services New Yorkers rely on can be preserved through economic challenges and fiscal uncertainties.

Local government sales tax collections grew by 21.1%, or $901 million, in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period last year. Collections for the three-month period totaled nearly $5.2 billion, with growth at least partially driven by inflation, which hit a 40-year-high in March.

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Despite unprecedented federal aid, the MTA is still faced with determining how it will close its budget gaps in the future. If riders do not return faster than the MTA projects, or if new sources of revenue are not found, rising debt payments could force the MTA to close future budget gaps through service cuts, greater than planned fare hikes, or delays to critical capital projects.

Accelerating consumer price increases beginning in the spring of 2021 have led to the highest inflation rate in 30 years in the New York City Metropolitan Area. Consumer spending habits have already shifted, and persistent inflation on essential household items, such as housing and food, will limit purchasing power and squeeze household budgets absent stronger wage growth.

Median earnings for full-time working women in New York were 86 cents for every dollar earned by men in 2019, an annual wage gap of $8,821, as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau. While New York women earn more dollars relative to men than in most other states, women's median earnings continue to lag across occupational groups and other categories.

The average bonus paid to employees in New York City’s securities industry for 2021 grew to $257,500, a 20% jump over the previous year’s record high. The estimated bonuses paid out on Wall Street are higher than the city’s most recent 15.7% growth projection, and should help the city exceed its expected revenue from income taxes.

The February Plan benefits from New York City’s continued economic resilience in 2021 and includes more proactive planning to fund budget risks and generate savings. The City is expecting to generate a surplus of $3.7 billion in fiscal year 2022 due to federal aid, better-than-projected tax revenues, and planned savings. The surplus could reach at least $4.5 billion if revenue and spending remain on their current tracks.

Historic relief funds from the federal government, provided in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, boosted New York’s per capita balance of payments from Washington from second-to-last in federal fiscal year 2019 to 40th in 2020. During this period, New York received $1.59 for every tax dollar paid to Washington, an increase from 91 cents from the prior year, but still below the national average of $1.92. 

The COVID-19 pandemic hit New York City particularly hard, causing massive job losses at major employers such as restaurants, hotels and retail stores. These dashboards follow a series of reports released over the past two years tracking economic data and the effect of the pandemic on these critical sectors and will help identify areas of weakness as well as positive developments.

Arts, Entertainment and Recreation | Construction | Office | Restaurant | Retail | Securities | Tourism | Transportation and Warehousing

The number of jobs influenced by the green economy in New York exceeded one million in 2019 and 2020. New York’s efforts to promote sustainability not only encourage the creation of new jobs related to clean energy and energy efficiency, but they can also affect employment more broadly, requiring new skills in existing occupations and increasing demand for others. The State must fund educational and workforce development programs to grow the green economy and help bolster New York’s pandemic recovery.

Unrestricted State aid for cities, towns and villages has remained flat or declined over the last decade. When adjusted for inflation, unrestricted aid to local governments has actually declined by 24% since 2011, when the State’s real property tax cap was enacted.

Local government sales tax collections totaling $19.6 billion increased by 19.1%, or $3.1 billion, in 2021 compared to last year. This was the highest annual increase on record after a historic low in 2020 when local sales tax collections declined by 10%. Annual growth in 2019 was 4.7%.

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Although the Division of the Budget forecasts in the State Fiscal Year 2022-23 Executive Budget that the budget will remain in balance for the next five years, the direction of the pandemic, inflation, and supply chain issues all remain risks to the state’s economic recovery and financial plan. The budget also proposes billions of dollars in spending that would bypass critical oversight if enacted.

Update: Supplemental Report on the State Fiscal Year 2022-23 Executive Budget (As Amended by the Governor)

The pandemic has disrupted the provision of services to students and precipitated declines in enrollment at CUNY, as in most education systems. CUNY received more than $1.5 billion in federal aid across three federal relief packages to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic, including a minimum of $634 million which must be provided directly to students. Only $386 million of the total remains to be allocated in fiscal years 2022 and 2023.

Prior to the pandemic, enrollment in the City’s cash assistance program had been on the decline, reaching a record-low level of 325,000 people in March 2020. Enrollment then grew sharply, by about 20 percent between February 2020 and September 2020, when the caseload peaked at 391,432 people, before beginning to decline. However, since September 2021, after federal extended unemployment benefits came to an end, enrollment has risen again

The Administration for Children’s Services has reported sharp declines in service levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. As schools operated remotely, the number of abuse and neglect reports from school staff and other mandated reporters slowed, resulting in fewer investigations by the agency.