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Comptroller
DiNapoli: August Revenue Projection Off By $75M
Sep 16th - 11:38 am
The estimated revenue for New York’s coffers was off by $75 million in August, showing that New York is operating on a “razor-thin margin,” Comptroller Tom DiNapoli found in his monthly revenue report.
Though more money, $3.3 billion, came into the state coffers in August compared to this time last year, the state is relying on one-time revenues from tax settlements to shore up its budget.
This could complicate matters down the road, DiNapoli warned.
“Revenue collections, as anticipated, have grown from last year,” DiNapoli said in a statement. “Still, the Blue Chip consensus economic forecasts for growth continue to be revised downward, raising concerns for the remainder of the fiscal year. We should be prepared for the possibility that revenue growth may falter, requiring downward adjustments to the Financial Plan.”
Meanwhile, spending is up across the board by 2.7 percent or $1.3 billion, which is attributed to the increased spending for Medicaid, the health-care program for the poor, which is up $851 million.
Some lawmakers were heartened earlier in the summer by a $800 million surplus reported by DiNapoli. Some, including Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, wanted to use that money to offset unemployment insurance fees that businesses took on this year.
But both Gov. Andrew Cuomo and DiNapoli threw cold water on that idea almost immediately, saying the surplus was only reflective of the timing of tax payments.
DiNapoli Reports Sluggish Growth For CRF
Sep 14th - 4:48 pm
The New York State Common Retirement Fund recorded a sluggish 1.8 percent growth in the first quarter of 2011, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli announced this afternoon.
DiNapoli pegged that the relatively poor performance on the roller coaster stock market and uncertainty in European markets.
“The financial markets have shown increased volatility as the economy struggles to build momentum,” DiNapoli said. “These are challenging times as we continue to grapple with sluggish job growth and concer over European sovereign debt. However, the Fund continues to be among the strongest in the nation and we have a diversified investment strategy and long-term perspective to help manage these market conditions.”
The fund stands at $146.98 billion and grew about $480 million over the last quarter. The first quarter ended June 30.
It’s not all terrible news, however, since the CRF is performing better than this time last year. At the time, the fund reported a negative 4.38 percent rate of return.
DiNapoli Sets Up Tax Cap Website
Sep 1st - 2:23 pm
As we’ve noted earlier, the office of the state comptroller actually has a lot of say when it comes to the intrepretation and implementation of the recently approved 2 percent tax cap.
And as municipalities and school districts around the state gear up to develop budgets with the cap in mind (or, in some cases, attempt to override it) DiNapoli’s office has produced a website to help officials navigate the new requirements
“This new tax cap is complex, and our new site will help localities navigate those complexities and report accurate information,” DiNapoli said. “I have directed my staff to do all we can to help local governments properly implement this important initiative.”
The site includes a pension exemption calculator, as well as examples for how to report levies, ore the amount collected in taxes.
County governments must have their spending plans in place by the beginning of the calendar year. School districts vote on their budgets in May. Local governments can override the cap by a two-thirds vote of the county Legislature. School districts can override the cap by a 60-percent majority vote by residents.
DiNapoli Plans Ticket Audit At State Fair
Aug 19th - 11:13 am
Most politicos come to the annual State Fair in Syracuse to eat meat on a stick, fried dough and shake a few hands.
Comptroller Tom DiNapoli apparently goes to the fair to audit.
As the New York State Fair launches a new electronic ticketing program, DiNapoli announced today he would begin an audit of the program to ensure reliable reporting of ticket sales.
The program uses electronic wristbands and bar-coded cards (similar to going to big concert event, I suppose) rather than paper tickets.
“With a million visitors coming through the gates for this historic annual event, we want to make sure this Midway ticketing method is viable,” DiNapoli said. “It’s our job to ensure the fiscal integrity of the New York State Fair.”
The fair starts next Thursday and runs through Sept. 5. And, as a shameless plug reminder, the CapTon team will be at the fair next week for a special on-location show.
Turner Spox Knocks Old Foe
Aug 17th - 12:38 pm
It’s feeling a lot like 2010!
Republican political consultant Bill O’Reilly zeroed in today on Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s endorsement of David Weprin, knocking the Democrat as a “career politician,” and dusted off a few talking point attacks against his 2010 foe.
While this is a different campaign, it is in many ways old hat for O’Reilly. He ran Republican Harry Wilson’s failed comptroller bid last year. Wilson, the architect of the federal auto bailout, lost narrowly to DiNapoli.
But the campaign was lauded for its strong messaging and placing a close second in a state that’s becoming increasingly difficult for Republicans to win.
“Career politician Tom DiNapoli (D) says we need career politician David Weprin’s ‘financial and budgeting experience’ in Washington. Exactly what experience is he referring to – career politician Weprin’s Slush Fund Scandal in the City Council that he purports to know nothing about? His support of the biggest property tax hike in New York City history? Or his years of overspending that have killed job creation and business development in New York State to the point where we rank dead last among the states in business friendliness. The last thing – the absolute last thing — New York needs is another career politician in Congress.”
Bad News In July Cash Report
Aug 17th - 10:32 am
Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office sounded a strong note of caution in the July cash report released today, saying the state’s sagging economy is at the mercy of a confluence of factors.
Cash is up slightly from this time last year, but between the Wall Street roller coaster, sustained unemployment and Washington dysfunction, New York can’t seem to gain ground, DiNapoli found.
“New York’s recovering economy is struggling to reach cruising altitude, and the turbulence from volatile financial markets, a lackluster job market, a struggling housing sector, and political brinksmanship in Washington is creating additional drag,” DiNapoli said in a statement. “Each of these factors could impact results through the remainder of the fiscal year. We have to remain vigilant to keep our finances on track. Our fiscal margins are very tight, and we could go off course very quickly.”
The report found the state ended the month with just $9.4 million higher in the bank than initially projected. All told, the state has $1.9 billion on hand in the general fund. Meanwhile, receipts in the general fund were $61.5 million below estimates and disbursements were $70.8 million below plan.
If anything, the report throws cold water on the hope among some lawmakers who had proposed the state use an extra $899 million to allow businesses avoid a steep unemployment insurance fee. Both DiNapoli and Gov. Andrew Cuomo ruled that idea out, saying the state is not out of the fiscal woods yet.
DiNapoli: Consolidations Can Work, But Results Are Murky
Aug 15th - 11:37 am
Consolidations has the potential to make government more efficient, but the actual results are unclear.
That’s the jist of an audit released today by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office, who found that consolidation efforts at the Division of Criminal Justice are moving in the right direction, but there’s no good way of determining whether the plan is actually working well.
The audit alos found that there was no set formula that would determine how much money was saved by consolidation at DCJS, nor was there any way to track costs for services provided to other agencies.
“The good news is that years ago DCJS considered and applied an innovative consolidation approach to provide administrative services for four other law enforcement agencies. The bad news is that by not establishing clear measures to determine efficiency and effectiveness of the initiative, there is no way for DCJS and the other agencies to know whether the consolidation benefited taxpayers and consumers. As new opportunities for consolidations unfold, state leaders and policy makers must ensure that they are set up properly from the start.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has made consolidating all levels of government — essentially a reinvisioning of state and local governments in New York — a major and overarching priority. The Cuomo administration moved this year to combine the Banking and Insurance departments into the Department of Financial Services. In addition, the Division of Parole merged with the Department of Correctional Services.
And, as AG, Cuomo moved to incentivize local governments to consolidate or merge services.
It should be noted that the DCJS efforts to consolidate services by merging administrative functions at the
Division of Probation and Correctional Alternatives, State Commission of Correction, Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, and the Office of Victim Services predated Cuomo.
Does Stock Market Rollercoaster Signal Need For Pension Reform?
Aug 11th - 12:09 pm
The stock market’s roller-coaster ride (as illustrated, uh, ably by The New York Post yesterday) shows there’s a real need for pension reform, writes EJ McMahon of the fiscally conservative Empire Center.
In a blog post for the think-tank’s website, McMahon takes issue with AFL/CIO President Denis Hughes’ statement that with the high rate of return on the state employee pension fund during the last fiscal year, the need for an overhaul of the system (i.e. less generous benefits, is unnecessary).
While the stock market will rebound sooner or later, the events of the past few weeks are a reminder that chasing maximum returns by investing predominantly in risky financial assets is … risky. The point of public pension reform is to reduce the risk for New York taxpayers, who — in addition to their own financial concerns — now stand behind a constitutional guarantee of defined-benefit pensions for all current and future state and local government retirees.
McMahon expounded on the post on Fred Dicker’s Talk 1300 show this morning:
“The pension fund will be lucky to end the year to hit its target return of seven or eight percent. It could, stranger things have happened,” he said.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo introduced a Tier VI pension plan designed to save $90 billion over 30 years, but the measure went nowhere at the end of the legislative session.
Comptroller Tom DiNapoli has said the pension fund remains fully funded and, at a 14.6 percent rate of return, has recovered well since the 2008 fiscal crisis.
DiNapoli: Oil Fund Could Save Businesses Money
Aug 10th - 4:35 pm
Comptroller Tom DiNapoli was on Syracuse radio station WSYR 106.9 FM this afternoon to pitch his natural gas production fund, saying it could ultimately save the industry money in the long run.
DiNapoli is proposing a spill cleanup system for the natural gas industry similar to how the state handles oil and other chemical spilles.
“I think it’s worked out very well when you’re dealing with the issue of oil,” he said.
The proposal comes as the Department of Environmental Conservation considers regulations for allowing high-volume hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking, in some parts of the state. The Southern Tier’s Marcellus Shale formation is being eyed as a particularly rich source of natural gas.
But environmentalists remain concerned the process, which involves blasting water and chemicals into rock in order to access the gas, could be prone to spills and damage a local water table.
DiNapoli said he was yet to receive pushback from the natural gas industry, but said the program could make energy companies more responsible.
“Even from the industry point of view, it heightens everyones awareness to make sure you’re doing things correctly,” DiNapoli said. “You could argue it saves money in the long run.”
Audit Finds Regents Problems Linger
Aug 10th - 1:54 pm
A follow-up audit conducted by Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office found lingering problems with the grading of Regents examinations for high school students.
The probe followed a 2009 audit that found inflated grades for Regents examinations because of scoring inaccuracies at the district level.
At the time, the audit found troubling trends for school districts in grading the tests:
In its final report, the Review team noted that the schools tended to award full credit even when answers were vague, incomplete, inaccurate or insufficiently detailed, and as a result, their scores tended to be higher than the scores awarded by the Review team.
DiNapoli’s office recommended 12 changes to how the examinations are graded. Of those recommendations, nine were implemented, two were deemed partially implemented and two others were not achieved.
The auditors wrote in a letter to Education Commissioner John King that the Education Department has made “significant progress” in making the fixes to the scoring process.
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