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DiNapoli: School District Budget Voter Participation More Than Tripled During COVID-19 Lockdown

Voter participation for school district budgets statewide more than tripled to 1.6 million votes cast amid the COVID-19 lockdown for the 2020-21 school budget year, after in-person voting was temporarily suspended and replaced with absentee ballots. The results were similar to 2019 when only 1.6 percent of the budgets failed to pass on the first vote, according to a report released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

DiNapoli: Pandemic Hit to Sales Tax Revenue Threatening Fiscal Health of Local Governments

New York’s municipalities collected nearly $17 billion in sales tax revenue in 2019, representing 9.7 percent of all local government revenue, according to a comprehensive report on local sales tax released today by State Comptroller DiNapoli. Every county and city in the state, along with many towns and villages, depend on these funds to pay for essential services and operations, revealing the statewide impact of the revenue losses from the pandemic.

DiNapoli: Westchester Sisters Admit to Stealing $22,000 of Deceased Mother's Pension Payments

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr. announced the convictions of Annette Bigelow, 60, and Mary Nash, 59, who hid their mother’s death to collect nearly $22,000 in her state pension payments from 2013 to 2015. The two Westchester County residents each pleaded guilty to one count of felony grand larceny in the fourth degree.

DiNapoli Announces 2019 Fiscal Stress Scores

Twenty-two local governments were designated in fiscal stress for 2019, according to State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s Fiscal Stress Monitoring System (FSMS). The scores were based on financial information reported by local governments operating on a calendar year basis (Jan. 1 – Dec. 31) for 2019 (pre-pandemic). In New York, that includes all counties and towns, 44 cities and 10 villages.