State tax receipts totaled $27.6 billion through the first quarter of State Fiscal Year 2023-24, $450.8 million higher than estimates released in the Division of the Budget’s Enacted Budget Financial Plan. However, collections were $6.8 billion lower than last year through the quarter ending in June 2022.
New York will receive nearly $665 million as part of recent federal investments to improve broadband data, affordability, access and availability. New federal funds present an opportunity for the State to improve the availability of reliable, high-speed service to unserved and underserved areas, and the State must now craft a plan that is ambitious, actionable and accountable for meeting this objective.
New York’s recreational adult-use cannabis market represents a new legalized industry and, as such, its development presents new and unique issues for local governments, particularly for the cities, towns and villages that will have marijuana retail dispensaries and consumption sites located within their jurisdictions. The purpose of this report is to briefly provide a background on the 2021 cannabis law, including its major components and actors, and to touch upon its financial and operational implications for local governments.
Local sales tax collections in New York State increased by 1.1% in May compared to the same month in 2022. This is the third consecutive month in 2023 of less than 2% growth. Overall, local collections totaled $1.71 billion in May, up $18.4 million compared to last year.
The number of New Yorkers earning less than $20,000 with a broadband subscription rose from 64% to 76% between 2019 and 2021 as a result of two federal programs created to address disparities in access to high-speed internet. More than 1.3 million New York households are receiving affordable broadband subscriptions with federal support. In total, more than 90% of all New York households had access to broadband in 2021, up from 86% in 2019.
Local sales tax collections in New York state increased by 1.5% in April compared to the same month in 2022. Overall, local collections totaled $1.74 billion, up $25.8 million compared to the same time last year.
The unemployment rate for mothers in New York City has improved but it remains higher than it was prior to the pandemic. In 2022, 5.7% of City moms in the workforce were unemployed compared to 3.4% nationally. Black mothers in the City are the hardest hit, facing an unemployment rate of 9%. Some mothers in the City appear to be looking for flexible options outside full-time work, especially compared to the rest of the State and the nation.
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated pre-existing staffing pressures, particularly a shortage of staff nurses, in NYC Health + Hospitals (H+H) facilities, leading to an increased reliance on temporary nurses and higher staffing costs. This report includes a trend analysis of nurses in New York City and the rest of the State, challenges to hire more staff nurses nationwide and the experience of H+H nurse staffing during this time.
Local government sales tax collections in New York State totaled $5.5 billion in the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 7.1%, or nearly $369 million, compared to the same three-month period last year.
New York’s Paid Family Leave (PFL) provides paid time off for eligible employees for bonding with a newborn, or newly adopted or foster child or to care for a family member with a serious health condition. Payments under PFL rose steadily between 2018 and 2021 as the amount of allowable time off and weekly cash benefits increased. Almost eight million workers were covered under PFL, with $872 million paid on approximately 156,000 claims in 2021.
