Created by the government, public authorities are legally separate entities that provide services to the public as well as to the State and local governments. Public authorities are generally self-supporting through their revenue-generating activities. However, in some cases, governmental financial assistance and support is provided for operating and other expenses. New Yorkers pay for public authorities in a variety of ways including rates, tolls, fees, and in some cases, taxes.

The debt burden of a governmental entity creates fixed costs that directly affect its ability to provide current services, as well as its long-term fiscal health. High borrowing levels may:

Real Property Taxes and Sales Taxes Are Major Local Revenue Sources

• Real property taxes remain the single largest source of local government revenue in the State, accounting for $35.7 billion, or 43 percent, of the $83 billion in total revenue from local fiscal years ending in 2018 (not including New York City).
• Fire districts are the most dependent class of local government on the property tax for revenue (which accounts for 93 percent of their total revenue), followed by school districts and towns (each at 54 percent), and villages (49 percent).
• State

• In academic year 2019-20, New York State public and private higher education institutions had the following students in degree-credit enrollments:
  • 846,281 full-time; and
  • 344,964 part-time.
• The State has a higher proportion of private college attendance than most states, with 195 independent and proprietary college campuses accounting for 44.5 percent of statewide full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment.

New York State Ranks Highest in Nation in Per Pupil Spending

• For the 2017-18 school year,* New York State was the highest among the states in per pupil disbursements for current public elementary and secondary education at $24,040, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. New York’s per-pupil figure rose 4.1 percent from the previous year.

Environmental Protection Fund (EPF)

Created in 1993, the EPF:

Highway Conditions Have Declined in the Past Two Years After Remaining Steady Since 2015

• 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 increased by 4.4 percent in 2019.
• In 2019, 53.7 percent of the State’s highway lane miles were rated good to excellent, a 2.2 percentage point decrease since 2018.

Inmate Populations and Crime Rates Continue Dropping

• As of March 2020, approximately 56,137 inmates were held in 133 State and local correctional facilities, which include:
  • 52 State correctional facilities;
  • 64 county jail and correctional facilities; and
  • 17 New York City correctional facilities.

Caseloads Decreased in SFY 2019-20 Before the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

• Numbers of recipients of Public Assistance (PA), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Supplemental Security Insurance (SSI) all declined in SFY 2019-20, continuing trends of recent years in each case.
• The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York State near the end of the fiscal year was followed by significant increases in enrollment and spending for PA and SNAP in the first few months of SFY 2020-21.

Pandemic Brings Jump in Medicaid Enrollment

• After a modest decrease of 0.3 percent on an average monthly basis in SFY 2019-20, Department of Health (DOH) Medicaid enrollment rose significantly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic near the end of SFY 2019-20 and into the new fiscal year.