State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, Oneida County District Attorney Scott McNamara, and the New York State Police today announced the arrest of the long-time superintendent of the Utica City School District (UCSD) Bruce Karam and the former Utica Mayor and UCSD School Board President Louis LaPolla for allegedly using taxpayer funds to pay for political campaigns and a non-school related fundraiser.

Costs for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) program to provide transportation services for people with disabilities have declined in recent years, in part due to the MTA’s move to alternative transit services that provided $102.7 million in savings in 2022, according to a report released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. Still, some measures of customer satisfaction initially deteriorated as a result of the move to “broker services” and must be monitored to ensure quality service.

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced that the estimated value of the New York State Common Retirement Fund (Fund) was $246.3 billion at the end of the second quarter of State Fiscal Year 2023-24. For the three-month period ending Sept. 30, 2023, Fund investments returned an estimated -1.59%.

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced the following local government and school audits were issued.

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli released the following statement today regarding the update to the city's Financial Plan:

Local sales tax collections in New York state increased by 2.5% in October compared to the same month in 2022, according to an analysis released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. Overall, local collections totaled nearly $1.8 billion, up $43.5 million compared to the same time last year.

A 50-year-old Georgia woman, Sandra Smith, was sentenced to over a year in federal prison and ordered to pay full restitution after admitting she stole $459,050 in New York state pension and federal social security payments from her deceased mother-in-law’s bank account, State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia Ryan K. Buchanan, and Inspector General for the Social Security Administration Gail S. Ennis announced today.

amNewYork on Saturday published an op-ed from New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

The full op-ed is below:

New York needs to boost financial education in our schools

Young people in New York have a great knowledge of many subjects, but they have much to learn about personal finance.

In September, the Office of the State Comptroller approved 1,803 contracts for state agencies and public authorities valued at $3.4 billion and approved more than 2.1 million payments worth nearly $15 billion. The office rejected 150 contracts and related transactions valued at $311 million and nearly 3,100 payments valued at more than $13 million, primarily for mistakes, insufficient support for charges, and improper payments. More information on these contracts and payments is available at Open Book New York.

New York City is financially accountable for numerous entities that are legally separate but can impact its budget. Today, State Comptroller Thomas P.