In January, the Office of the State Comptroller approved 1,801 contracts for state agencies and public authorities valued at $1.7 billion and approved more than 1.7 million payments worth more than $12.5 billion. The office rejected 101 contracts and related transactions valued at $93 million and nearly 1,200 payments valued at nearly $7 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.

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia Ryan K. Buchanan and the Inspector General for the Social Security Administration Gail S. Ennis today announced the arrest of a Georgia resident, Sandra Smith, for allegedly stealing over $450,000 in New York state pension and Social Security payments made to her deceased mother-in-law over a 16-year period.

New York City’s $104.8 billion preliminary fiscal year (FY) 2024 budget has benefitted from better-than-projected revenue collections, the reallocation of unused federal pandemic relief funds and savings initiatives, according to a report released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli issued the following statement today on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)’s February Financial Plan:

Local sales tax collections in New York state increased by 9.2% in January compared to the same month in 2022, according to an analysis released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. Overall, local collections totaled $1.89 billion, up $159 million compared to the same time last year.

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

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced a series of shareholder proposals and other initiatives as part of the New York State Common Retirement Fund’s (Fund) ongoing efforts to increase corporate accountability for progress on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) issues.

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General (SSA OIG), the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation today announced the arrest and guilty plea of Timothy Gritman, a Pennsylvania resident, on wire fraud and Social Security fraud charges for stealing over $200,000 of retirement benefits paid to his deceased father.

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today released a review of recent federal data about how the pandemic negatively affected student performance in New York. In response, he urged New York school districts to assess their plans for spending federal pandemic funds and to target funds towards children most in need.

The New York Daily News today published an op-ed from New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, Citizen Action of New York’s Democracy Coalition Coordinator Karen Wharton and State Senator Zellnor Myrie, Chair of the Committee on Elections.

The full op-ed is below: