State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced today that he has appointed Maria Doulis as deputy comptroller and Todd Scheuermann as assistant comptroller in the Division of Budget and Policy Analysis. These appointments are to fill currently vacant positions.
In December, the Office of the State Comptroller approved 1,471 contracts for state agencies and public authorities valued at $8.6 billion and approved nearly 11.7 million payments worth nearly $14 billion. The Office rejected 137 contracts and related transactions valued at $790 million and more than 5,200 payments valued at more than $38.9 million, primarily for mistakes, insufficient support for charges and improper payments. More information on these contracts and payments is available at www.openbooknewyork.com.
Revenue dropped $1.8 billion from 2019, a decline steeper than the drop during the Great Recession.
Local government sales tax collections declined by 10 percent overall in 2020, or $1.8 billion, compared to the previous year, according to a report issued today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. This decline was steeper than the drop during the Great Recession, when local sales tax collections fell 6 percent statewide in 2009 compared to 2008.
This past year, New York faced extraordinary fiscal challenges as a result of the economic downturn, the failure to exercise budgetary restraint during more prosperous times, and the failure to act quickly when the State’s finances began to show signs of difficulty, as well as the collapse of the stock market through 2002 and the devastation, both in human and financial terms, of 9-11.
At the end of the 2003-2004 fiscal year, the State’s General Fund was able to report an operating surplus of $3 billion, largely as a result of using the proceeds of tobacco bonds to pay operating expenses.
Last fiscal year, the process by which the budget was constructed improved immeasurably. The budget was passed in a timely fashion, and more legislators were involved in crafting the final product.
As the current administration ends its tenure, the State faces significant financial challenges. The 2006-07 enacted budget contains an estimated two-year budget gap of as much as $13.9 billion, with spending projected to grow twice as fast as revenues between 2005-06 and 2008-09.
New York faces considerable fiscal challenges that will require the State’s leaders to find creative and effective solutions in order to chart a positive course for the future. A well-planned, collaborative effort will help the State reverse patterns of unsustainable spending, rising debt levels and structural budgetary imbalances.
