With the giving of gift cards during the holiday season increasing in popularity, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli is urging New Yorkers to read the fine print for details about fees and expiration dates. Even as some sellers of gift cards have eliminated inactivity fees, consumers should still ask whether fees apply. DiNapoli reminds New Yorkers to spend the gift cards in a timely fashion. If not, the money could eventually get turned over to his Office of Unclaimed Funds.

In November, the Office of the State Comptroller approved 1,384 contracts for state agencies and public authorities valued at $25.5 billion and approved more than 12.3 million payments worth more than $11.7 billion. The office rejected 91 contracts and related transactions valued at $610 million and nearly 5,200 payments valued at nearly $39.7 million, primarily for mistakes, insufficient support for charges, and improper payments. More information on these contracts and payments is available at www.openbooknewyork.com.

New York City’s finances have remained resilient so far during the COVID-19 pandemic, largely as a result of tax revenue from the financial services sector, but the city will face some dire choices in 2021 if the federal government does not deliver direct aid to state and local governments soon, according to a budget analysis released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced today the following audits have been issued.

State tax receipts in November were higher than expected by the Division of the Budget (DOB), but collections through the first eight months of the state fiscal year were $3 billion lower than last year, according to the monthly State Cash Report released by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced that the New York State Common Retirement Fund (the Fund) has filed a shareholder proposal at Amazon.com, Inc. asking for an independent audit to assess the company’s policies and practices on civil rights, equity, diversity and inclusion, and how they affect the company’s business.

Local government sales tax collections declined by 7.1 percent in November compared to the same month last year, according to State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. November’s sales tax collections totaled $1.3 billion for local governments statewide, $102 million less than in November 2019.

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced the following school district audit has been issued.

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced the following local government audits has been issued.

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced today that the New York State Common Retirement Fund (Fund), valued at an estimated $226 billion, has adopted a goal to transition its portfolio to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. This process will include completion within four years of a review of investments in energy sector companies, using minimum standards to assess transition readiness and climate-related investment risk, with, where consistent with fiduciary duty, divestment of companies that fail to meet minimum standards.