The Cattaraugus-Allegany-Erie-Wyoming and Orleans/Niagara Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) withheld millions of dollars in surplus funds that should have been refunded to local school districts, according to separate audits issued today by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

“Excessive amounts of money can sit unused or in unauthorized reserve funds because of flawed budget practices,” DiNapoli said. “Moving forward, BOCES officials need to be more accurate and more transparent with their budgeting.”

New York State Comptroller Thomas P.

The New York State Common Retirement Fund’s (Fund) overall return in the first quarter of the state fiscal year 2016-2017 was 2 percent for the three-month period ending June 30, 2016, with an estimated value of $181 billion, according to New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

“We’ve been able to make some slight gains despite markets that remain challenging,” DiNapoli said. “Fortunately, we’re long-term investors and remain well-funded as we navigate ongoing market fluctuations.”

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced the unsealing of an indictment charging John H. Eydeler III, 66, a resident of Glendale, Arizona, with grand larceny in the second degree, a class C felony. Eydeler is alleged to have stolen over $100,000 in pension payments from the New York State and Local Employees Retirement System intended for his deceased mother, Dorothy Eydeler, a retired nurse who died in October of 1998.

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

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced that an audit of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s New York City Transit division found it did not collect more than $13 million in fines and fees — nearly half of those owed to it — issued between Jan. 1, 2013 and June 6, 2015. Not adequately enforcing NYC Transit violations has cost tens of millions more over the years.

New York State Comptroller Thomas P.

New York State's Medicaid system made as much as $12.1 million in inappropriate payments during 2015, including $2.3 million for dead patients and millions more for recipients who had been dropped from long term care coverage, according to an audit released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. By the end of audit fieldwork, about $2.1 million of the overpayments were recovered.

SUNY Downstate Medical Center (Downstate) consultant, Pitts Management Associates, Inc. (PMA), charged Downstate $83,156 in questionable travel and lodging expenses, exceeding the conditions of the contract, including pricey rooms at the Carlyle Hotel and a “team dinner” that included cocktails, according to a report released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

Local sales tax collections across New York state only grew 1.7 percent in the first six months of 2016, according to a report released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. Overall, growth slowed from 2.6 percent in the first quarter to 0.8 percent in the second quarter.