State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli's Weekly News - October is Italian-American Culture and Heritage Month

 

October is Italian-American Culture

and Heritage Month

Join State Comptroller DiNapoli for a personal conversation about his rich Italian heritage. “Like my ancestors before me, I hold my Italian culture and heritage dear and am proud to be an American of Italian descent. In this conversation I discuss my family’s story of coming to the United States and growing up on Long Island." 

State Comptroller DiNapoli Announces New $50 Million Investment in Northern Ireland

State Comptroller DiNapoli was joined in Belfast by Joseph Kennedy III, U.S. Department of State Special Envoy for Northern Ireland Economic Affairs and Bernard McGuire, Managing Director of 57 Stars, an international private equity investor, to announce a new $50 million commitment to invest in Northern Ireland companies from the New York State Common Retirement Fund. The investment from the State pension fund’s private equity program will be managed by 57 Stars, a Washington D.C. based investment manager.

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Local Sales Tax Collections Increase by 3.6% in Third Quarter Over Last Year

Local government sales tax collections in New York State totaled $5.9 billion in the third calendar quarter of 2023 (July - September), an increase of 3.6%, or more than $205 million, compared to the same period last year, according to a report released by State Comptroller DiNapoli. This marks the second consecutive quarter of collections returning to lower pre-pandemic year-over-year growth rates.

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New York City Continues to Rebound and Regain Share of State Economic Activity

Economic indicators show New York City’s economy is recovering from the depths of the pandemic, with the City accounting for three-fifths of the State’s total wages and its sales tax collections rising to 43% of total Statewide collections, nearing pre-pandemic levels, according to a report released by State Comptroller DiNapoli. Even with these and other positive developments, more people and jobs need to return to the City to fuel economic growth for the City and the State.

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DiNapoli Tracks State and City Spending Related to Asylum Seekers 

State Comptroller DiNapoli launched a new online tool to monitor emergency spending related to assistance for asylum seekers by New York State and New York City. State agencies have spent $316.2 million in State Fiscal Year 2023-24 on resources for asylum seekers through Sept. 30. New York City’s estimated total spending from Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 and FY 2024 through Sept. 30 is $1.89 billion.

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Municipal & School Audits

• Marathon Joint Fire District – Investment Program
• Depew Union Free School District – Investment Program
• Lake Placid Central School District – Investment Program 
• Lake Placid Central School District – Transportation State Aid

ALSO IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK

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• US delegate trip sees $50m investment for NI

• New York comptroller: Third-quarter local sales tax collections up from last year
  
  
• Domestic violence cases spike 8.5% in NYC: NY comptroller report 
  
  
• Former Sherman Clerk To Repay Stolen Funds
  
  
• There are now more seniors and fewer kids in NYC, says state comptroller

 Post of the Week 
Tom DiNapoli @NYSComptroller 

Why is Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez giving out wrong information about voting?

In the link to find your sample ballot here to see who is up for election in your area the link leads you to the wrong election. We wonder why the Congresswoman has done this.

Find your sample ballot here to see who is up for election in your area→

Primary Candidates

This is a Ranked Choice Election

 

NYC’s general election is next Tuesday, November 7, and early voting begins today!

Find your early voting site

Here’s some other useful information you may need to know:

• Today is the last day to register to vote. Check your voter registration here→
  If you have a NY State ID, register online here.
  If you don’t, visit your local NYC Board of Elections office and register in-person.
  
  
• While there are no federal or statewide races this year, there is at least one city- or borough-wide race happening in your neighborhood, ranging from City Council seats to district attorney elections in The Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island.
  Find your sample ballot here to see who is up for election in your area→
  
  
• New Yorkers can take up to 2 hours of paid time off to vote, if your work schedule prevents you from voting in person while polls are open.
  Take a look at more info on your rights as a voter→
  
  

And last reminder: registered voters do not need to show ID to vote! You will only need ID if you are a first-time voter who registered by mail and did not provide identification.

See you at the polls!

Team AOC

NYC Comptroller’s Office Releases Fiscal Year 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report

 

The Office of New York City Comptroller Brad Lander released the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023. The ACFR provides an in-depth accounting of the City of New York’s finances to assess fiscal health. It contains audited financial statements for the year running from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023.

“New York City’s economy continues to surpass expectations of recovery from the economic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said New York City Comptroller Brad Lander. “While we are on solid footing and seeing steady growth, many economic challenges remain. The Annual Comprehensive Financial Report remains a vital resource as we measure the City’s fiscal performance. I am grateful for the work of my Office’s Bureau of Accountancy who compile this crucial transparency tool each year.”

The ACFR also provides explanatory notes to the financial statements, supplemental financial and statistical information about New York City for each of the City’s accounting funds and basic financial statements of the City’s five retirement systems and closely related entities such as NYC Health + Hospitals and the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

This year marks the 43rd year that the City of New York is awarded the prestigious Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association.

Highlights from the Fiscal Year 2023 Annual Report include:

City of New York Finances

• General Fund revenues totaled $108.24 billion while expenditures totaled $108.18 billion, resulting in a surplus of $60.5 million, including restricted fund activities.
• General Fund revenues were $1.16 billion higher than in FY 2022, a 1.1% increase. Tax, miscellaneous and other revenues, and State categorical grants increased by $6.37 billion, while federal categorical grants dropped by $5.07 billion. Excluding the transfers to eliminate future fiscal year projected gaps, expenditures increased by $2.90 billion or 2.7%.

• Excluding restricted fund activities, the General Fund had a surplus of $5.1 million, which was deposited into the Revenue Stabilization Fund (RSF). The total of long-term reserves (RSF and Retiree Health Benefit Trust) was $6.54 billion, or 8.9% of the General Fund’s tax revenues. This is well below the 16.0% needed to weather the full length of a recession.
• Actual FY 2023 revenues were $7.85 billion more than projected in the FY 2023 Adopted Budget, driven by a $5.69 billion variance in tax revenues. Over the year, the City availed itself of $12.53 billion in additional resources that were primarily used to close the FY 2024 budget gap ($5.48 billion), fund the unanticipated costs associated with providing services and shelter to people seeking asylum ($1.47 billion), fund greater than budgeted contractual services costs outside of asylum seeker costs ($2.06 billion), and pay for greater than expected overtime costs, again excluding overtime costs associated with the City’s asylum seeker response ($1.11 billion).

New York City Retirement Systems

The Comptroller’s Bureau of Asset Management is the investment advisor to the City’s five retirement systems: New York City Employees’ Retirement System (NYCERS), Teachers’ Retirement System of the City of New York (TRS), New York City Police Pension Fund (Police), New York City Fire Pension Fund (Fire), and the New York City Board of Education Retirement System (BERS). 

• As of June 30, 2023, the combined investments assets of the City’s five Systems totaled $253.3 billion, a $12.7 billion increase from the value as of the end of FY 2022. During the fiscal year, the fair value of the assets ranged from a high of $253.3 billion (June 2023) to a low of $228.2 billion (September 2022).
• The time-weighted return (net of manager fees) of the aggregate portfolio was 7.98% in FY 2023 and -8.65% in FY 2022. The FY 2023 returns of each of the five systems exceeded their policy benchmarks.

Municipal Finance

The Comptroller’s Bureau of Public Finance works with the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget to issue bonds to finance the City’s extensive capital program and to refund outstanding bonds for savings. 

• Federal Reserve policy to lower inflation contributed to a modest increase in mid- and long-term rates and a steep increase in short-term interest rates throughout FY 2023, resulting in an inverted Municipal Market Data AAA benchmark (MMD) yield curve that began in December of 2022 and persisted through the end of the fiscal year.

• Despite the volatility in interest rates, the City’s borrowing and refinancing schedule remained consistent, with the General Obligation (GO) and New York City Transitional Finance Authority (TFA) credits coming to market 11 times throughout the fiscal year, with 6 new money and 5 refunding transactions. The refunding transactions provided $500 million in budgetary savings.

Local Economic Conditions in Fiscal Year 2023  

• By the end of FY 2023, New York City’s job market recovered 925,900 of the 956,500 jobs lost between February and April 2020. Jobs in traditionally office-using industries and in Education and Health Care Services had surpassed their pre-pandemic levels. Relative to February 2020, the largest private-sector job gaps were in Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (-62,500), and Leisure and Hospitality (-34,200).
• The unemployment rate was 5.4% in June 2023 (seasonally adjusted). From June 2022 to June 2023 the unemployment rate increased by 0.4 percentage points, due to an increase in the labor force.

• New York City taxable sales grew by 11.3% in FY 2023, driven by both economic growth and inflation. Taxable sales in FY 2023 were 24.4% higher than in FY 2019.
• The housing market remained strong, with the median asking rent in June 2023 reaching $3,750, 29.3% higher than the level in 2019.
• The Manhattan office market vacancy rate was 22.4% in the last quarter of FY 2023, slightly higher than in the same period the previous year but more than double the 10.5% in FY 2019. Both office attendance in the New York City metropolitan area (measured Tuesday through Thursday) and visitation rates at New York City office buildings continued to increase but remain far from pre-pandemic levels.
• The Consumer Price Index in the New York City metropolitan area grew by 5.3% in FY 2023, measured on an annual average basis.

The full Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) is now available for download. Financial and statistical tables in the annual report are available for download on the Comptroller’s website at www.comptroller.nyc.gov.

Governor Hochul Announces State Police and Local Law Enforcement to Crack Down on Impaired and Reckless Driving Through Halloween

 State Police and Local Law Enforcement to Increase Patrols to Prevent Impaired and Aggressive Driving During the Holiday Period

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that State Police and local law enforcement will be out in force through Halloween in order to crack down on impaired and reckless driving. The enforcement period begins on Friday, Oct. 27, and runs through Tuesday, Oct. 31, and is funded by the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee.

“Together, we can ensure Halloween festivities stretching through Tuesday are safe and enjoyable by promoting responsible choices and raising awareness about the dangers of impaired driving,” Governor Hochul said. “I thank the New York State Police and our local law enforcement for keeping our children, communities and celebrations safe and fun!”

New York State Police Acting Superintendent Dominick L. Chiumento said, “Halloween can be great family fun, but it can also be deadly when someone makes the wrong decision to drink and drive. Troopers will be highly visible throughout the Halloween weekend looking for impaired and reckless drivers. Drivers should exercise extreme caution, especially on the local roads, as children and their parents will be out enjoying the weekend festivities. Our message is simple: Drive responsibility, never drink and drive.”

Motorists who are traveling this weekend can expect a number of sobriety checkpoints and additional DWI patrols. Law enforcement will also be looking for motorists who are using their phones and other electronic devices while behind the wheel. Drivers should also remember to “move over” for stopped emergency and hazard vehicles stopped on the side of the road. State Police will also be targeting the illegal sale of alcohol to minors through underage drinker enforcement details statewide.

Troopers will be using both marked State Police vehicles and Concealed Identity Traffic Enforcement (CITE) vehicles as part of this crackdown in order to more easily identify motorists who are violating the law. CITE vehicles allow the Trooper to better observe driving violations. These vehicles blend in with everyday traffic but are unmistakable as emergency vehicles once the emergency lighting is activated.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports Halloween is a particularly deadly night due to the high number of impaired drivers on the roads. Between 2015 and 2019, there were 126 drunk-driving fatalities on Halloween night nationwide. Of those fatalities, 41 percent occurred in crashes where there was at least one drunk driver involved. Children out trick-or-treating, and those who accompany them, are also at risk. During Halloween night 2019, four pedestrians were killed in drunk-driving crashes.

During last year’s initiative there were 1,006 accidents, which included 109 personal injury crashes and three fatalities. Troopers also arrested 189 people for DWI and issued a total of 11,601 tickets.

A reminder, if you plan to head out and celebrate Halloween, NHTSA offers these simple tips for a safe and happy evening:

• Remember that it is never okay to drink and drive. Even if you’ve had only one alcoholic beverage, designate a sober driver or plan to use public transportation or a ride sharing service to get home safely.
• Use your community’s sober ride program.
• If you see a drunk driver on the road, contact law enforcement.
• Have a friend who is about to drink and drive? Take the keys away and make arrangements to get your friend home safely.