New York City is expecting to generate a surplus of $3.7 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2022 due to federal aid, better-than-projected tax revenues, and planned savings, according to a report released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli on the city’s February financial plan. The surplus could reach at least $4.5 billion if revenue and spending remain on their current tracks, according to DiNapoli’s analysis.

The New York Daily News published an op-ed from New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today. The full op-ed is below:

Diagnosing Team Cuomo’s nursing home failures: The state comptroller explains his audit of the former governor’s COVID performance

The state Department of Health (DOH) was unprepared to respond to infectious disease outbreaks at nursing homes, even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit New York, an audit released today by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli found. DiNapoli said that a persistent lack of funding for public health over the last decade forced DOH to operate without critical information systems and staff that could have identified and helped limit the spread of COVID-19 at nursing homes.

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli joined the United States Attorney for Eastern District of Tennessee (EDTN) in announcing that Leslie Schwinzer has pleaded guilty to wire fraud (18 USC. § 1343) in the U.S. District Court at Knoxville, TN for stealing $56,352 from the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS). This case was the result of a joint investigation with the Social Security Administration Inspector General’s Office (SSAIG), the EDTN and the Comptroller’s Office.

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

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

Town of Hempstead – Budgeting (Nassau County)

The board did not adopt realistic and appropriate budgets, and the town’s preliminary budgets for 2017-2020 fiscal years did not include the fund balance estimates required by Town Law.

Historic relief funds from the federal government, provided in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, boosted New York’s per capita balance of payments from Washington from second-to-last in federal fiscal year (FFY) 2019 to 40th in FFY 2020 among states, according to a report released by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. New York received $146 billion, or $7,236 per capita, more in federal spending than residents paid in total taxes to the federal government in FFY 2020.

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli has directed staff to prohibit all new investments in Russian companies and to review the New York State Common Retirement Fund’s (Fund) current investments and assess whether they present financial risks that warrant further restrictions or divestment. He is also reaching out to the Fund’s investment managers to urge them to conduct a similar examination to mitigate investment risk and minimize market impact.

In January, the Office of the State Comptroller approved 1,323 contracts for state agencies and public authorities valued at $3.3 billion and nearly 1.9 million payments worth nearly $11 billion. The office rejected 69 contracts and related transactions valued at $109.5 million and more than 3,400 payments valued at nearly $7.6 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.

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

“The MTA’s February Financial Plan underlines the seriousness of the situation the authority – and the state and city – face in dealing with upcoming fiscal challenges. The plan acknowledges that each of the next three years will be balanced with the use of one-time federal relief and most concerningly, in 2025, with deficit financing. The idea that it will be years before the MTA needs to find a solution to its structural imbalance is troubling.