Reports

Despite significant uncertainty caused by inflation and other factors, State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2022-23 reflected continuing recovery from COVID-19 and economic growth. 

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, 2023.

The Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the State of New York for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023.

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.

The Division of the Budget’s State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2023-24 Enacted Budget Financial Plan shows looming budget gaps totaling $36.4 billion through SFY 2026-27. The deteriorating fiscal outlook is rooted in several factors, including anticipated revenue declines from a weakening economy and a volatile stock market, and increases in recurring spending. State leaders must take action to align recurring revenues with recurring spending, with an eye toward preserving the economic competitiveness of our State and equality of opportunity for all New Yorkers.

The Procurement Stewardship Act Report is prepared annually by the Office of the New York State Comptroller as required by New York State Finance Law, Section 163.14. The Report provides information on state agency contracts, agency purchases from centralized contracts, bid protests and use of consultants during the past fiscal year.

The $229 billion Enacted Budget for State Fiscal Year 2023-24 includes new recurring spending for schools, mental health services, and health care, as well as resources for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and for emergency rental assistance. While these and other measures will increase spending, revenues are projected to decrease for the second year in a row, as temporary federal aid is depleted and tax collections decline.

Overtime costs at State agencies rose 47.2% to more than $1.36 billion in 2022, setting a new record. Despite several efforts to bolster the workforce, including salary increases and bonuses for a range of positions including health care workers, attrition of the State workforce accelerated in 2021, and the number of State employees continued to drop in 2022. As the State workforce has been reduced, total overtime hours and earnings have increased.

The surge in federal spending in response to the COVID-19 pandemic significantly improved New York’s per capita ranking in the federal balance of payments from 49th in 2019 to 30th in Federal Fiscal Year 2021. For every dollar New York sent to the federal government in tax receipts, it received $1.51 back in federal spending, as compared to a national average of $1.70. This report is the seventh in a series by the Office of the State Comptroller that examines the flow of funds between the federal government and the states.

Interactive Map | Excel file with supporting data

The Executive Budget proposes $227 billion in All Funds spending in SFY 2023-24, an increase of 2.5% from the prior year. The State faces prolonged inflation, rising federal interest rates and the end of federal relief aid that was instrumental in balancing the past two budgets. As a result, the Division of the Budget projects shortfalls in revenues and increases in spending.

Last year the New York State Thruway Authority proposed a multi-year schedule of toll increases to begin in 2024. This report provides a summary of the Thruway Authority’s current and forecasted revenue and expenses, factors that have impacted its finances over the past several years, the toll increase proposal, and considerations to help guide the assessment of the proposal.

New York has one of the nation’s highest debt levels, largely because measures to restrict the excessive use of debt have been circumvented over the years in State budgets. This report identifies policy and fiscal weaknesses that have allowed State debt to grow to troubling levels and offers a roadmap for State debt reform to improve debt affordability and protect New York’s fiscal health.

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.

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The Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) prepares this report as part of the “Quick Start” process established in State Finance Law. The report includes revenue and spending projections through SFY 2024-25.

As State policymakers responded to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying volatility in the State’s finances, New York ended the State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2021-22 budget on stable ground. 

The Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the State of New York for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022.

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, 2022.

Certain New York State agencies experienced major spikes in overtime during 2020 and 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but most overtime was performed in agencies that have typically relied upon it. And while the pandemic does not appear to have prompted a ‘great resignation’ from the State workforce as of 2021, workforce reductions since 2012, and prior years covered by this report, have been accompanied by a notable boost in overtime.

After two years of extraordinary volatility in State finances, the State Fiscal Year 2022-23 Enacted Budget Financial Plan projects fiscal stability for the next five years and includes plans to bolster rainy day reserves significantly. However, this report identifies several revenue, spending, and sustainability risks that could disrupt the Financial Plan that should be monitored closely.

The devastating job losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic led to a record number of unemployment insurance (UI) claims in New York, necessitating borrowing from the federal government beginning in May 2020. Two years later, the State’s UI debt has remained stubbornly high despite steady employment gains and state tax rates that have already increased to maximum permissible levels. Absent federal or state significant action, interest costs will mount and employers federal taxes will also grow.