Local government sales tax collections in New York State totaled $23 billion in calendar year 2023, up 4.2 percent (or nearly $919 million) compared 2022. This past year’s growth lagged compared to both 2021 and 2022, when a combination of rising inflation and a surge in taxable sales statewide led to double-digit growth after significant COVID-related declines in 2020. Despite the slowdown, collections returned to growth rates more consistently seen before the pandemic.

In October 2023, the MTA issued its latest 20 Year Needs Assessment (TYNA), which provides an unrestrained view of the capital needs of the system. This report from the Comptroller’s office examines the TYNA, reviews the depth of work needed to upgrade New York’s regional transit and highlights the urgent need for the MTA to state its priorities and funding plans as early as it can.

This snapshot highlights the Fiscal Stress Monitoring System (FSMS) results for school districts that reported for school fiscal year (SY) 2022-23, which ended on June 30, 2023. Increases to federal pandemic relief aid and the State fully funding foundation aid kept many districts out of a stress designation. For SY 2022-23, sixteen school districts were designated as being in stress—the second-lowest number since the system was created. The report also includes a look at districts that have been chronically stressed over the eleven years since FSMS began.

New York State has the highest number of personal income tax checkoffs in the nation, but even as the number of checkoffs have grown over the last decade, only a fraction of the money has been actually spent on their target purposes each year. Agencies need to comply with reporting requirements to provide greater clarity on why spending from the funds is lagging.

This listing includes all final audit reports related to State agency and public authority operations issued during the five-year period from October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2022, and is a companion to the 2022–2023 Annual Report on Audits.

This annual report summarizes the results of all the State agency and public authority audit reports issued by the Office of the State Comptroller from October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2023.

New York City housing costs have grown more than 68% over the last decade, the largest increase of selected major metropolitan areas in the U.S. Housing affordability, which considers the incomes of households, has also worsened in New York City over the last decade, as median rent prices, in particular, grew faster than median incomes. Many New Yorkers may continue to be priced out of their preferred neighborhoods without a substantial increase in the supply of affordable housing units for low- and moderate-income households.

A look back at some of the major accomplishments of the Office of the New York State Comptroller in 2023.