Thirty local governments in New York State ended 2020 in some form of fiscal stress, State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced today. The communities were identified by the Comptroller’s Fiscal Stress Monitoring System (FSMS).

Federal COVID-19 relief funds distributed during the pandemic provided critical financial support to New York City Health and Hospitals (H+H), but reliable funding and timely payments from all government sources is needed to keep the largest municipal health system in the country in good fiscal health, according to a report released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

The New York Daily News published an op-ed from New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today warning New York City’s leaders to safeguard the city’s finances against the challenges that lie ahead. The full op-ed is below:

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, Madison County District Attorney William Gabor, and New York State Police Superintendent Kevin P. Bruen today announced that former state police mechanic David Relyea has pleaded guilty to felony corrupting the government for the theft of more than $24,000 in auto parts and supplies from the state. The thefts took place between April 2015 and October 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic has widened the achievement gap that exists for students across the nation. Unprecedented federal funding presents the city of New York with an opportunity to begin closing that gap for the more than one million students attending New York City’s public schools. That opportunity cannot be squandered.

Local government sales tax collections in August were 15.5% higher than they were during the same period in 2020, making it the fifth consecutive month that collections exceeded 2020 results, State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced today. Statewide, local collections totaled more than $1.5 billion, up nearly $204 million from August of last year.

The state has made progress in making high-speed connections available to New Yorkers, ranking second in the U.S. in the percentage of the population with broadband available in their neighborhood, but more than one million, or 13.8%, of households do not have access or a subscription to home broadband services, according to a report released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

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

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that three former officials of the Orange County Industrial Development Agency (IDA), who pleaded guilty in June to corruption charges, including hiding self-dealing and concealing conflicts of interest, were sentenced today to pay more than $1 million in restitution.

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, Franklin County District Attorney Craig Carriero and the New York State Police announced that Bridget Brown, former treasurer of the Essex County Agricultural Society (the Society), has been arrested for allegedly stealing more than $60,000 in funds from the organization which operates the Essex County Fair.