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 changed the face of education across the country and in New York City, the nation’s largest public school system. During the pandemic, the City had to develop and implement novel remote learning protocols to continue educating students. Extraordinary levels of federal aid allowed the City to overcome these obstacles and implement a number of new initiatives to help students and address learning losses.
The historic surge in unemployment claims at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly depleted the New York State Unemployment Insurance (UI) Trust Fund, resulting in the State borrowing from the federal government to pay claims. State UI tax rates have already risen to the highest level permissible under law in 2021. Unless the State or federal government takes significant action, federal UI tax rates on employers will also increase in 2022 and beyond.
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.
Collections exceeded both 2020 and pre-pandemic 2019 levels.
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; nevertheless, there are still significant challenges. Many predominantly rural areas remain underserved. And one in three low-income households does not have access to broadband, which magnifies disparities in access to opportunities. High-speed connections are an imperative not only for economic development, but also for equality of opportunity.
DiNapoli report finds “digital divide” in many rural areas and among low-income New Yorkers.
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.
