The Aid and Incentives for Municipalities (AIM) program, the State’s unrestricted aid program for cities, towns and villages, has remained flat or declined over the last decade.  Also called revenue sharing, this aid to local governments has declined by 24% since 2011, when the state’s real property tax cap was enacted. This aid is important for municipalities, since it can be used for any governmental purpose, and it is particularly vital to many cities.

New York State local government sales tax collections totaled $19.6 billion in 2021, an increase of 19.1 percent, or $3.1 billion, compared to the previous year. This was the highest annual jump on record after a historic low in 2020 when local sales tax collections declined by 10 percent. The report examines the many factors that drove sales tax growth in 2021, including inflation, along with the difference in sales tax recovery between New York City and the rest of the State.

Local governments across the state own 85 percent of all roads, from city and village streets to town roads and county highways. In fiscal year 2020, local governments, excluding New York City, spent $2 billion on road maintenance, repairs and upgrades, a decline of 7 percent since 2010. This report looks at local road spending, State and federal road aid, and the need for a comprehensive assessment of road conditions, maintenance needs and associated costs. | Interactive Map

This snapshot highlights the FSMS results for school districts that reported for school fiscal year (SY) 2020-21, which ended on June 30, 2021. Fewer school districts were scored in fiscal stress in this year, but the COViD-19 pandemic and the local, State and federal responses to it had a negative impact on district operations.

Statewide local sales tax collections grew by 17.5% in November compared to the same month in 2020. Overall, local collections totaled almost $1.6 billion, up $235 million from November of last year. Collections for the month were also notably robust when compared to pre-pandemic levels, up 9.2% (or $133 million) from November of 2019. New York City’s collections totaled $696 million, an increase of 12.6% – or nearly $78 million – when compared to November of 2020. Nearly every county experienced significant year-over-year growth in collections for November.

Statewide local government sales tax collections in October totaled more than $1.5 billion, an increase of 12.9 percent (or $175 million) compared to the same month in 2020. This growth continued the trend of monthly collections since April exceeding 2020 results. Strong local sales tax performance in October reflects weakened collections during the same month in 2020, when many parts of the state were still adversely impacted by the pandemic.

This report highlights the results of the 2020 Census for local governments in New York State and accompanies a new online interactive map that provides census population statistics by age, race and ethnicity, along with housing trends, for each city, county, town and village statewide. | Interactive Census Dashboard

Local government sales tax collections totaled nearly $5.2 billion in the third quarter of 2021, up $861 million (20 percent) compared to the same period last year. Every region in the State, including New York City, experienced robust growth in sales tax revenue. When compared to pre-pandemic levels, statewide local collections grew by 8.6 percent ($409 million) this past quarter over the same period in 2019.

The case studies described in this report provide insight into some of the fiscal challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic presented to individual local governments in 2020. OSC staff conducted interviews and financial analysis in late fall 2020, choosing the Mid-Hudson region as the geographical focus. The City of Peekskill, the Town of Cornwall and the Village of New Paltz agreed to participate in the study. Each had its own unique experience in 2020, but each also shows some of the typical problems facing local governments throughout the region and the State.

This snapshot highlights the results for counties, cities, towns and villages that reported for local fiscal years ending (FYE) 2020. These scores, therefore, reflect the partial-year impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on operations for most local governments.