In September, the Office of the State Comptroller approved 1,185 contracts for state agencies and public authorities valued at $48.9 billion and approved more than 27.1 million payments worth more than $25.9 billion. The office rejected 109 contracts and related transactions valued at $580 million and more than 9,900 payments valued at nearly $39.8 million primarily for mistakes, insufficient support for charges, and improper payments. More information on these contracts and payments is available at www.openbooknewyork.com.

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.

New York City, facing significant uncertainty in its economic and financial outlook, should develop a comprehensive plan to lay out its options before resorting to long-term borrowing to fund operations, according to a report released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. DiNapoli urged the federal government to provide relief, as it has after each of the last two recessions.

Sales tax revenue for local governments in New York state dropped 9.5 percent in the third quarter compared to the same period last year, according to State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. Sales tax collections from July to September totaled $4.3 billion, or $452 million less than last year.

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced the following school district audits have been issued.

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced today the following audits have been issued.

Amidst the economic tumult brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the securities industry saw its pretax profits reach $27.6 billion in the first six months of 2020, an 82 percent increase over the same period last year, according to State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s annual report on Wall St.’s performance.