New York State voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2013 which authorized seven commercial casinos. The first four of those opened between 2016 and 2018 in upstate communities and the Request for Applications for the remaining three licenses for downstate communities began in January 2023. This report analyzes the impact the revenue from the four upstate commercial casinos has had on the affected local governments.
The Comptroller's Division of Local Government and School Accountability provides essential support to these officials to keep operations and services running smoothly for New Yorkers. If you’re a new local government official, complete the five tasks in this guide to get started in your new role.
Local government sales tax collections in New York State totaled $5.7 billion in the second calendar quarter of 2023, up 3 percent (or $167 million) compared to the same period last year. Second quarter growth was less strong than the 7.1 percent seen in the first quarter. In fact, overall growth has continued to slow since April-June 2021. New York City’s second quarter increase of 3.7 percent marked the first time that its collections did not reach double-digit growth after eight consecutive quarters, while the counties and cities throughout the rest of the State, in aggregate, experienced 2.3 percent growth. | Regional Table [.xlsx]
New York’s recreational adult-use cannabis market represents a new legalized industry and, as such, its development presents new and unique issues for local governments, particularly for the cities, towns and villages that will have marijuana retail dispensaries and consumption sites located within their jurisdictions. The purpose of this report is to briefly provide a background on the 2021 cannabis law, including its major components and actors, and to touch upon its financial and operational implications for local governments.
