Major Local Revenue Sources Remained Fairly Stable

• Real property tax revenues were mostly unaffected by COVID-19 in local fiscal years ending (LFY) in 2020.

Enrollment

• In academic year (AY) 2021-22, New York State public and private higher education institutions had 794,701 full-time and 340,884 part-time students in degree-credit enrollments.
• Full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment at public institutions decreased in AY 2020-21 by 8.5 percent compared to five years earlier and by 11.5 percent compared to 2011-12.

Significant Federal Aid Continues to Support New York Schools

• According to the Division of the Budget, schools have received or are slated to receive $15.3 billion from various federal aid programs, including $1.6 billion from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), $4.4 billion from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSA Act), and $9.3 billion from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP Act).

Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)

• In SFY 2021-22, DEC All Funds spending totaled $1.3 billion, an increase of $350.8 million (35.4 percent) from SFY 2020-21 as agency operations recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Highway Conditions Improve Slightly for the Second Year in a Row

• The State is responsible for maintaining more than 42,700 lane miles of highway.
• Compared to the prior year, the number of highway lane miles rated poor to fair decreased by 4.7 percent in 2021.
• In 2021, 56.8 percent of the State’s highway lane miles were rated good to excellent, a 2 percentage point increase since 2020.

Number of Crimes and Crime Rates Leveled Off in 2021

• According to preliminary data, the number of crimes in seven major categories used by the State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) as indicators of overall crime trends (Index Crimes) leveled off in 2021, following the first increase in eight years in 2020.

Public Assistance Recipients Decrease to Near Record Low

• For SFY 2021-22, the average monthly number of public assistance recipients in the State decreased by 17,043 (3.5 percent) to 472,043, a level slightly higher than the record low of 468,000 in SFY 2019-20.
• “Public assistance” as discussed in this report includes both Family Assistance (FA) and Safety Net Assistance (SNA).

Total Medicaid Spending Reaches Record High of Nearly $84 billion, an 11 Percent Increase

• State Medicaid spending grew by $5.2 billion (22.9 percent) to $27.7 billion in SFY 2021-22, its highest level ever, due in part to higher enrollment levels impacted by federal restrictions on disenrollment during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

A robust, efficiently managed capital investment program can support healthy economic growth, while the deterioration of capital assets can weaken the State’s economy and its ability to attract and retain business. Capital assets include not only highways and bridges, but also facilities for education, government, health, housing, environmental conservation and recreation.

Spending generally reflects the State’s program priorities. Comparing spending to revenue provides an indication of the State’s ability to support continuing programs. State spending, which includes spending from federal funds, is recorded on a cash basis.

See Appendices 1 and 2 for a breakdown of State spending by major service function and funding source for the past five years.