This report examines the local government role in emergency medical services (EMS) in New York State and particularly the growing role that counties are playing in EMS provision. Declining staffing levels, increasing costs and other challenges have put pressure on the State’s EMS agencies. In many cases, counties are stepping up to help. Their EMS expenditures are growing rapidly and increasingly they are participating directly in providing EMS to their residents, either as primary responders or as back-up providers to their local EMS agencies.

Local government sales tax collections in New York State totaled $23 billion in calendar year 2023, up 4.2 percent (or nearly $919 million) compared 2022. This past year’s growth lagged compared to both 2021 and 2022, when a combination of rising inflation and a surge in taxable sales statewide led to double-digit growth after significant COVID-related declines in 2020. Despite the slowdown, collections returned to growth rates more consistently seen before the pandemic.

This snapshot highlights the Fiscal Stress Monitoring System (FSMS) results for school districts that reported for school fiscal year (SY) 2022-23, which ended on June 30, 2023. Increases to federal pandemic relief aid and the State fully funding foundation aid kept many districts out of a stress designation. For SY 2022-23, sixteen school districts were designated as being in stress—the second-lowest number since the system was created. The report also includes a look at districts that have been chronically stressed over the eleven years since FSMS began.

The number of full-time local government workers employed outside of New York City contracted by 7.9% from 2007 to 2022, largely the result of two defining events – the recession of 2007-09 and the COVID-19 pandemic. This stands in contrast to the nation as a whole, which saw a 2% increase in the number of full-time local government employees over the same 15-year period. This snapshot report highlights these findings and provides additional analysis by local government class, job function and geographic region.

Local government sales tax collections in New York State totaled $5.9 billion in the third calendar quarter of 2023, up 3.6 percent (or over $205 million) compared to the same period last year. This marked the second consecutive quarter of moderate growth, signaling a return to lower pre-pandemic growth rates. New York City’s third quarter growth strengthened, with collections increasing by 4.9 percent, while the counties and cities throughout the rest of the State, in aggregate, experienced 2.4 percent growth.

From 2019 through July 31, 2023, DiNapoli’s Local Government and School Accountability division released more than 190 information technology (IT) audits, finding more than 2,400 cybersecurity-related issues. The audits focused on breakdowns or gaps in fundamental cybersecurity components. The most common areas where improvement and corrective action were needed included cybersecurity governance aspects such as training in IT security awareness, policies and procedures, and the need for contingency plans.

This snapshot highlights the results for counties, cities, towns and villages that reported for local fiscal years ending (FYE) in 2022. Overall, the influx of federal pandemic relief aid, as well as robust sales tax revenues, were significant factors in lowering many municipalities’ fiscal stress scores in FYE 2022, especially for non-calendar year entities. Included in the report is an analysis of the 10 years of data collected since the launch of the system, focusing on what has been learned over the past decade.

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.

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.