Joseph Hernandez, candidate for New York State Comptroller, today blasted incumbent Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli after he announced nearly $7.7 billion in planned bond sales for New York State, New York City, and their major public authorities in September alone, even as DiNapoli’s own office warns that New York’s debt burden is exploding and the state is rapidly approaching its debt limit.
“Tom DiNapoli has been Comptroller for nearly 20 years. He cannot keep issuing reports warning about Albany’s debt problem as if he is some outside observer,” Hernandez said. “He is the state’s chief fiscal watchdog. He chairs the committee that coordinates these bond calendars. His own office has warned for years about backdoor borrowing and an exploding debt burden, yet the borrowing keeps coming and the debt keeps piling up. After nearly two decades, DiNapoli owns this record.”
The numbers in DiNapoli’s own analysis of the enacted state budget are staggering. State supported debt is projected to grow from $60.3 billion to $98.8 billion over the next five years, an increase of approximately 64%. DiNapoli’s office says nearly all of that increase will come from backdoor borrowing through public authorities.
The enacted five year capital plan calls for $56.4 billion in public authority backdoor borrowing, with more than 51% of all capital project spending projected to be financed through backdoor debt. By comparison, just $1.8 billion is projected to be financed through General Obligation bonds.
That borrowing is being layered onto an already staggering debt burden. Across New York State, New York City, and the MTA, combined debt and indebtedness already exceeds $200 billion, including $60.3 billion in state supported debt, $96.3 billion in New York City indebtedness, and $45.3 billion in MTA debt outstanding.
“More than half of New York’s capital spending is being financed through backdoor debt, almost all of the projected increase in state debt is coming through backdoor borrowing, and the Comptroller has spent years telling us how dangerous this is,” Hernandez said. “New Yorkers do not need another report explaining the problem. They need a Comptroller willing to fight the spending and borrowing culture that created it.”
The situation is projected to get even worse. DiNapoli’s office says New York will have just $177 million in remaining capacity under the state debt limit by State Fiscal Year 2031. At the same time, baseline debt service costs, adjusted for prepayments, are projected to climb from $6.415 billion to $9.232 billion, an increase of nearly 44%.
“Think about that. New York is on track to carry nearly $100 billion in state supported debt, debt service costs are projected to jump nearly 44%, and Albany is running within $177 million of its debt ceiling,” Hernandez said. “Meanwhile, DiNapoli announces another $7.7 billion bond calendar and acts like documenting the problem is enough. It is not enough.”
As Comptroller, Hernandez will push for binding debt affordability limits, greater transparency and voter accountability for public authority borrowing, and aggressive scrutiny of the spending and capital plans driving New York deeper into debt.
“Albany has treated borrowing like an unlimited credit card, and DiNapoli has spent nearly 20 years watching the balance grow,” Hernandez said. “Every bond eventually comes with a bill, and taxpayers are the ones who have to pay it. The days of Albany borrowing first and asking questions later need to end.”
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