A look back at some of the major accomplishments of the Office of the New York State Comptroller in 2022, including building on the State pension fund's $20 billion in climate solutions investments, investing an additional $350 million in New York State businesses, uncovering $5.4 billion in cost savings through audits of critical programs, returning $400 million in lost money to rightful owners, and more.
In November, the Office of New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli approved 1,514 contracts for state agencies and public authorities valued at $1.8 billion and approved nearly 2 million payments worth more than $11.1 billion. The office rejected 135 contracts and related transactions valued at $286 million and nearly 1,600 payments valued at nearly $19.5 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.
This report provides the public detailed information about State and local public authorities and makes recommendations to improve transparency and eliminate use of backdoor borrowing and debt gimmicks that seek to weaken or circumvent debt limits.
New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli is urging New Yorkers to make sure they spend any gift cards they received this holiday season. Unused gift card balances can eventually be turned over to his Office of Unclaimed Funds (OUF), which took in a record $48 million from them in 2022.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli today announced the indictment of CINDY TAPPE, 57, for orchestrating an approximately $3.5 million 6-year fraud relating to two New York University (“NYU”) programs. TAPPE used her position as the Director of Finance and Administration for NYU’s Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and Transformation of Schools (the “Metro Center”) to divert approximately $3.5 million intended for minority and women owned businesses.
New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced today the following audits have been issued.
New York had the 13th highest poverty rate among states in 2021, and has surpassed the national average since 2014. These rates have been persistently higher among some groups, including children; New Yorkers of color, and those with less than a high school education. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted an expansion of the safety net by the federal government that effectively reduced poverty, and some parts of that should be continued.
Almost 2.7 million New Yorkers, or 13.9% of the state’s population, lived in poverty in 2021, compared to 12.8% of all Americans, according to the first in a series of reports released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli examining “New Yorkers in Need.” While poverty rates in the state declined prior to the pandemic, they were higher in 2021 than in 2019. New York ranked 13th among all states and had a higher rate of people in poverty than neighboring states and most large states.
In October, the Office of the State Comptroller approved 1,555 contracts for state agencies and public authorities valued at $1.5 billion and approved more than 2.9 million payments worth nearly $11.8 billion. The office rejected 143 contracts and related transactions valued at $267 million and nearly 1,800 payments valued at nearly $13.4 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 State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced that the estimated value of the New York State Common Retirement Fund (Fund) was $233.2 billion at the end of the second quarter of the state’s fiscal year. For the three-month period ending Sept. 30, 2022, Fund investments returned an estimated -3.85%.
