Reports

Gloversville faces significant fiscal challenges as it has nearly exhausted its constitutional taxing limit, severely limiting its flexibility to address unforeseen expenses and make ongoing infrastructure investments.

Utica has been in fiscal decline in recent years, relying on non-recurring revenues to fill budget gaps. Its new mayor has vowed to work with the City Council and OSC to ensure that the City remains in control of its own financial future.

From 2001 to 2011, total federal and state aid combined, grew at an average rate of 2.2 percent annually, slower than the rate of inflation (2.4 percent).

Longstanding concern over New York’s high debt levels, debt service costs, and imprudent use of borrowing led the Legislature to impose limits on State debt and enact related reforms in 2000.

Local governments’ infrastructure needs are substantial and growing, while their ability to maintain their investments in capital programs is increasingly constrained. State policy changes could help reverse this trend.

On November 9, 2012, Mayor Bloomberg revised New York City’s four-year financial plan (the “November Plan”) to reflect a delay in the planned sale of additional taxi medallions caused by legal challenges. Previously, the City’s financial plan had counted on the receipt of $635 million from the sale in FY 2013, and a total of $1.5 billion over three years. The City no longer anticipates the receipt of any sale proceeds in the current fiscal year, and now expects to realize $1.5 billion during fiscal years 2014 through 2016.

Salamanca unexpectedly lost revenues from the Seneca Allegany Casino due to a dispute between the Seneca Nation and New York State over exclusive gaming rights. Although Salamanca aggressively responded to this revenue crisis, the City could run out of cash before the fiscal year ends on March 31, 2013.

Absent Congressional action, significant revisions to federal tax and spending policies are scheduled to take effect in January 2013.

Just as Niagara Falls seemed to be making headway in its financial struggles, a dispute between the Seneca Nation and the State of New York has resulted in the City losing as much as $60 million in revenue. The City’s 2013 executive budget proposal called for significant layoffs, program cutbacks, and property tax increases.

This Report on Estimated Receipts and Disbursements for State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2012-13 through SFY 2014-15, issued pursuant to Chapter 1 of the Laws of 2007, is intended to enhance analysis and discussion of the State’s economic condition and the State Budget.

Midway through the current fiscal year, tax revenue trends in New York State are running below projections, signaling the need for careful monitoring by State officials and policy makers over the next six months.

Obesity rates in New York State and the nation have jumped sharply in recent decades. Childhood obesity, in particular, has become much more common – nearly tripling nationwide since 1980.

Five years after the beginning of the financial crisis, the securities industry remains in transition. The industry is still working through the fallout from the financial crisis and many business patterns and practices are changing as a result of regulatory, technological and economic factors.

On July 25, 2012, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) released a revised four-year financial plan (“the July Plan”). A review finds that the MTA’s finances have improved appreciably over the past two years.

Growth in the number, cost and influence of public authorities has necessitated increased disclosure and oversight of their activities, which historically have been less transparent than those of State agencies.

The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the New York State and Local Retirement System (the System or NYSLRS) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012.

In the past few years, New York State has made important progress toward achieving long-term budget balance. The State has enacted significant changes in its three largest expenditure categories — Medicaid, school aid and agency operations — and created a new cap on local property taxes, ushering in a new era of State and local fiscal policy.

This report seeks to inform that debate by examining the economic and fiscal histories of these other cities between 1980 and 2010, a period characterized by divergent trends for different groups of cities in the Empire State.

The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the State of New York for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012.

This report describes the fiscal oversight OSC provides to local governments faced with the serious fiscal challenges of budgeting with fewer resources to fund rising expenditures, all while staying within the recently enacted property tax cap.