Reports

Between 2007 and 2012, the City’s available fund balance increased by 82 percent, from $3.8 million to $7.0 million in 2012. In 2012, Moody’s warned that rising employee benefit costs could put upward pressure on expenditures. Also, the State cap on growth in the property tax levy could affect the City’s ability to continue to balance its budget by increasing the property tax.

In 1966, New York State voters approved an amendment to the New York State Constitution to authorize creation of the modern State Lottery. The Lottery now is an important contributor to State revenues, generating more than $3 billion last fiscal year.

Over the past decade, Brooklyn has expanded at a rapid pace by attracting new businesses and residents.

Often, the required reports that industrial development agencies (IDAs) submit to OSC and other agencies are incomplete and inconsistent. Recent audits by OSC have found a lack of documented cost-benefit analysis, lack of recapture clauses in many project agreements and insufficient tracking of projects and their incentives.

Although U.S. and New York State economic growth softened in State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2013-14, tax collections showed signs of real improvement.

The City of Plattsburgh has strong financial operations marked by operating surpluses in 2010 and 2011, modestly sized but growing and diverse tax base and healthy reserve levels. However, Plattsburgh’s high proportion of tax-exempt properties, weak socioeconomic measures due to a large student population and high debt burden are possible threats to the City’s financial condition.

Technology is playing a growing role in personal and business activities. While there is a broad range of firms that are engaged in technology-related activities, at the heart of this trend are high-tech companies.

The Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) continues its efforts to promote sustainable government practices.

The State ended SFY 2013-14 in its most favorable financial position in years. The General Fund’s end-of-year balance, more than $2.2 billion, was $432 million over February projections.

Asthma is a major public health problem in New York State and nationally.

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The average bonus paid to securities industry employees in New York City grew by 15 percent to $164,530 in 2013, which is the largest average bonus since the 2008 financial crisis, and the third highest on record.

On February 12, 2014, the City of New York revised its four-year financial plan (the “February Plan”) to update its revenue and expenditure forecasts, and to begin reflecting the priorities of the new mayoral administration. Since the beginning of the fiscal year, the City has raised its tax revenue forecast by more than $5 billion through FY 2018 because the economy is outperforming the City’s expectations.

Investment in capital assets – roads, bridges, water and sewer systems, school buildings and other infrastructure – is essential to New York’s economy and its quality of life.

The percentage of New York State households with housing costs above the affordability threshold, as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), rose for both homeowners and renters from 2000 to 2012, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

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The State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2014-15 Executive Budget holds the promise that New York State can achieve ongoing budgetary balance after decades of nearly continuous structural gaps.

Sales tax is a major revenue source for New York City and the 57 counties. The strongest growth for 2013 was in the Long Island region Some of the rapid sales tax growth seen there and in New York City was due to the rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Sandy.

This report summarizes findings from the Fiscal Stress Monitoring System using 2013 data for villages with fiscal years ending in February through May. Statewide, 3 percent of villages are experiencing fiscal stress. Downstate villages are more likely than upstate villages to experience fiscal stress. The report notes that some of the environmental factors thought to drive fiscal stress differ between downstate and upstate villages.

This is the third report released by the Office of the State Comptroller on the State’s Dedicated Highway and Bridge Trust Fund.

This is the third annual report by the Office of the State Comptroller on overtime use by New York State agencies. It covers overtime patterns over the past seven years.

More than a decade ago, New York became the fourth state in the nation to extend in-state college tuition rates to undocumented immigrant students. Today, approximately 8,300 such students attend public institutions of higher education throughout New York.

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