NYS February Cash Report

Comptroller Update on Coffers

NYS Comptroller Tom Dinapoli issued his February cash report yesterday. What is seen are the same outrageous spending trends that will ultimately bankrupt our state.

With eleven months of the State’s 2006-07 fiscal year complete General Fund receipts were $3.9 billion or 9.3 percent ahead of last year, All Funds receipts were $4.0 billion or 4.2 percent ahead of last year.

General Fund spending was $40.9 billion in the first eleven months of the fiscal year. This is $4.1 billion or 11.1 percent higher than during the first eleven months of the 2005-06 fiscal year. All Funds spending of $95.3 billion was $7.8 billion or 8.9 percent higher than last year.

Also, this so-called "surplus" we have been hearing so much about from better than expected tax collections does not exist.

The increased revenues currently in the closing balance can be attributed to slower than anticipated refunds issued to date. Also, spending is below the Financial Plan primarily due to the timing of Local Assistance payments planned for February, but will have been paid in March in four areas, including education aid, welfare, special education and children and family service spending.

While $500 million in personal income tax refunds were accelerated at the end of the 2005-06 fiscal year, which would have the effect of increasing year to year variance, planned refunds expected to be paid in February 2007 did not accumulate as anticipated in the Financial Plan. As a result, to date, collections after refunds are currently higher than projected. It is expected that refunds in March 2007 will accelerate and therefore be on target with Financial Plan projections.

Total General Fund disbursements increased $4.1 billion or 11.1 percent as compared with the first eleven months of 2005-06 fiscal year. The growth in General Fund disbursements is driven by increases in education, health, and social services spending, along with additional payroll disbursements associated with retroactive collective bargaining agreements during this year compared to the same period last year.

Yes, that's right; union employees were paid for the year, decided they weren't paid enough and then used their stranglehold applied on the legislature by their lobbies to bargain for additional compensation. Try going to your boss and asking for a little extra on top of your paycheck from last month and see how what kind of reaction your receive.

Then there is what I call the "section the SEIU/1099 does not want you to see." New York not spending enough on health care? Not so much.

Spending in the Health and Environment category nearly tripled from $398.9 million to $1.1 billion, due primarily to the State’s obligation to pay prescription drug costs for New Yorkers who are eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare and who have temporarily lost prescription drug coverage because of complications with the Federal government’s implementation of its Medicare Part D prescription drug program.

Social Services spending increased 5.3 percent, from $9.7 billion to $10.2 billion, due to several factors including:

- increasing cost of the Medicaid program providing health care services and prescription drugs
- rising number of recipients of publicly financed health care
- increasing medical service utilization in hospitals, nursing homes, and managed care programs
- an additional Medicaid cycle payment through February 2007

Granted, unfunded federal mandates factor into this equation, but New York state's Medicaid payments are well above the national average for many programs and that cannot be blamed on the Feds. Nor can New York use this point in defense as the state government passes plenty unfunded mandates of their own along to localities.

As for the "pork" that New York state voters and taxpayers love so much: spending on capital projects increased $420.5 million, or 10.7 percent.