New York City Health + Hospitals will see pressure on key sources of revenue as Medicaid and low-income patients that rely on federal support lose health insurance, while reimbursement rates for health care programs are cut by Washington, making it harder for the largest public health system in the country to reach its financial goals.
New York City has cut fuel use and emissions across its municipal vehicle fleet of about 30,100 vehicles, but the average vehicle age is now the highest since 2012, and aging emergency and service vehicles are increasingly sidelined for repairs. In fiscal year 2025, the city spent $415 million on fuel and fleet repair, and over $400 million in capital funding for new vehicle acquisitions.
The Office of the State Comptroller prepares this report as part of the "Quick Start" process established in the State Finance Law. The report includes revenue and spending projections through SFY 2027-28.
The stability of the MTA's finances is increasingly reliant on its ability to find significant savings, grow ridership, and efficiently execute capital improvements. By prioritizing and delivering capital investments and continuing efforts to find ways to provide more cost-efficient service that remains safe, frequent and reliable, the MTA will ultimately improve the ridership experience. This will further strengthen farebox operating revenues and better prepare the MTA for uncertainty in the coming years.
This report highlights the results for counties, cities, towns and villages that reported annual financial data in time with the Office of the New York State Comptroller for local fiscal years ending (FYE) in 2024. Overall, the number of local governments designated in fiscal stress increased in FYE 2024 but remained near all-time lows. Included in this report is an analysis of both fiscal stress and environmental stress indicators and trends for non-filing local governments for fiscal stress purposes.
New York City’s revenues from water and sewer charges, fines and forfeitures, licenses and permits, interest income, rental income and other “miscellaneous revenues” reached an estimated $6.7 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2025, just 11% higher than in FY 2019. The weaker growth was due, in part, to the COVID-19 pandemic. The City should assess the many fines, fees, and charges for services it collects and whether these revenue sources are permanently affected by the changes that occurred during the pandemic and what that means for anticipated revenues.
New York City’s adopted $119.7 billion fiscal year 2026 budget is currently balanced (including pre-payments) but there are significant concerns over funding from Washington and slowing economic growth that could jeopardize its financial position and discretionary programs if greater preparation is not taken. The City must make balanced and prudent fiscal choices in the coming year while managing its substantial operational needs and encouraging employment and business growth to enhance its economic and tax revenue base.
New York State’s Financial Plan shows a growing structural budget deficit with a cumulative three-year budget gap of $34.3 billion, as forecasted by the Division of the Budget. The gap is up $7 billion since the January release of the Fiscal Year 2026 Executive Budget Financial Plan, and is attributable to downward revisions to the economic forecast and projected revenues, as well as increases in projected spending.
New York State agency overtime costs increased 10.2% in 2024 for a total of $1.3 billion, while the number of overtime hours increased by 7.8%, or 1.8 million hours higher than the previous year. This was the second year in a row the workforce increased to an average annual total of 151,309, but headcount is still below where it was in 2019 and markedly lower than 15 years ago when it was over 177,000.
The MTA has made substantial progress funding its capital programs and has tried to limit the strain on its operating budget from debt service costs, but potential federal actions threaten its financial future and debt profile.
