Chronic absenteeism rates among New York public and charter school students increased sharply as schools transitioned back to in-person learning after the COVID-19 pandemic subsided and remained high with nearly one in three students chronically absent during the 2022-23 school year. The rates were higher for high school students at 34.1%, 7.6 percentage points more than elementary and middle school students.
Reports
See Audits to search for audits related to State agencies, NYC agencies, local governments, school districts and public authorities.
September 2024 —
The Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the State of New York for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024.
September 2024 —
The Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the New York State and Local Retirement System (the System or NYSLRS) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024.
September 2024 —
Higher education institutions provide tremendous value to New York’s local economies and the State’s overall economic health through employment, wages, student spending, and more. The sector employed over 296,000 people in 2023, paying wages of around $26.5 billion, but still has over 13,000 fewer jobs than in 2019. Maintaining a vibrant higher education system is critical to New York’s future.
September 2024 —
The New York State Legislature amended the State Finance Law in 2015 by adding a new Section 8-c providing for the establishment of a statewide electronic system to help detect and prevent fraud, waste and abuse in government spending and to help avoid improper payment of public funds.
August 2024 —
In SFY 2022-23 (April 1, 2022 through March 31, 2023), OSC completed 10 audits of preschool special education providers' expenses submitted to SED. These audits cumulatively identified $7.7 million in recommended disallowances, or more than 13 percent of the total claimed expenses of $57.7 million for the audit period.
August 2024 —
New York State has seen a surge in hate crimes over the last five years with 1,089 reported instances in 2023, marking the highest number since data collection and annual reporting were mandated by New York’s Hates Crimes Act of 2000. As the number of hate crimes has grown, these crimes are increasingly targeting people rather than property, with most attacks against Jewish, Black and Gay Male New Yorkers.
August 2024 —
As required by Section 196 of the Navigation Law, the Comptroller prepares an annual report to the State Legislature and the Governor. The report includes: a description of the costs and damages paid by and recovered for the Fund; the monies spent pursuant to Section 186 (including amounts spent for oil spill prevention, training activities and equipment purchased), and the economic and environmental impacts on the State.
July 2024 —
The Climate Action Plan Progress Report for the New York State Common Retirement Fund highlights the Fund’s recent efforts to address climate risks and opportunities.
July 2024 —
New York’s Clean Energy Fund (CEF), established in 2016 to help New York reach its clean energy goals, has made good progress on reaching its goals for distributed solar capacity and leveraged funds, but is behind in meeting its energy efficiency targets for 2025. Since 2016, the CEF spent $3.4 billion through 2023 and has achieved 45% of its total efficiency goals.
July 2024 —
This report focuses on the condition of local bridges using data from the Federal Highway Administration’s National Bridge Inventory. New York has made progress in recent years. Since 2017, the share of local bridges in poor condition has fallen from 12.1 percent to 10.0 percent. The federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) has directed federal funds to a variety of infrastructure projects, including bridge projects. The IIJA created the Bridge Formula Program, which provides $2.0 billion in federal funding for New York bridges from federal fiscal years 2022-2026. New York State’s Bridge NY program facilitates federally funded local bridge projects. Since 2016, Bridge NY has funded more than 800 projects with a total investment of nearly $1.7 billion. For county-level bridge data across the State, see our interactive map | download data [xlsx].
July 2024 —
State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2023-24 was another productive year for the Office of Unclaimed Funds, returning $504 million to rightful owners.
July 2024 —
New York’s financial outlook is in a relatively stable position, but continues to have a structural budget deficit, with a cumulative three-year budget gap of $13.9 billion forecasted by the Division of the Budget. Action is needed to align projected state spending with revenues and address factors that challenge the state’s finances, economic competitiveness, and ability to offer services effectively over the long term. While economic conditions continue to remain favorable, policymakers have an opportunity to take further steps to improve the State’s structural financial position, and to improve the performance of critical State programs.
July 2024 —
The tourism industry’s post-pandemic recovery is uneven across the State, with Long Island nearly at full recovery of jobs lost while the North Country and Mohawk Valley are struggling to regain their footing. Visitors flocked to outdoor destinations, with attendance at State parks 9.1% higher in 2023 over 2000, while jobs are still 4.3% below pre-pandemic levels.
June 2024 —
Motor vehicle fatalities in New York State have risen 25.8% since 2019, with fatalities in 2022 at the highest level in a decade, even as the number of vehicle miles travelled, licensed drivers and traffic accidents have declined. State lawmakers recently enacted “Sammy’s Law,” which allows New York City to reduce speed limits in certain “safety zones” that are prone to pedestrian traffic injuries and fatalities. Such discretion could be provided to other local governments looking for ways to make their roads safer.
June 2024 —
New York State agency overtime costs in 2023 were $1.2 billion, down 11.6% from 2022, marking the first decrease in total overtime earnings since 2016. This decrease was led by three of the five largest users of overtime and was further reduced by other agencies, whose role in responding to the pandemic waned in 2023. In 2023, overtime as a share of payroll was at its second highest rate since 2007.
June 2024 —
The Office of the State Comptroller issued five reports examining “New Yorkers in Need.” These publications provide a fact base for understanding the local and demographic variations in need; explain the implications of lived poverty, food insecurity and housing instability; and make recommendations for bolstering the federal safety net and improving State efforts.
May 2024 —
Of the total contracts reported by State agencies in 2023, 56 percent were processed after their start or renewal dates, a decrease from 58 percent in 2022.
May 2024 —
For State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2023-24, agencies paid vendors $3,960,506 in interest, a decrease of $126,774 (approximately 3 percent) from SFY 2022-23.
May 2024 —
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 that are asset managers, investment banks and financial and professional service providers with the opportunity to offer services to fiduciary-controlled entities established by New York State law.