Reports

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.

Since the 1970s, farmers’ markets have multiplied and become more popular in New York City and throughout New York State as the locally grown food movement has gained momentum.

In late May 2012, the New York State Thruway Authority announced that it was beginning the process of imposing a 45 percent average toll increase for larger commercial vehicles. This increase, intended to take effect on September 30, 2012, comes after the Thruway Authority has increased tolls for all classes of vehicles in 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

The greater downtown Brooklyn area is home to world-class arts and cultural organizations, such as the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM).

The greater downtown Brooklyn area is the civic center of Brooklyn and includes the largest business district in New York City outside of Manhattan.

One year ago, New York City projected a budget gap of $4.6 billion for FY 2013 and out-year gaps that reached $4.9 billion. Since then, the City has successfully closed the FY 2013 budget gap and narrowed the FY 2014 budget gap to $2.5 billion without raising taxes or cutting basic services. Most of the improvement, however, has not come from higher revenue forecasts, but from drawing down reserves and other nonrecurring resources.

On July 1, 2012, the interest rate on subsidized Direct Federal Loans for college students (also known as Stafford Loans) is set to revert to 6.8 percent for new loans, unless the U.S. Congress acts to prevent the increase.