New York’s final state budget increased projected spending 10 percent over last year’s budget, three times the rate of inflation, according to a new analysis by state Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi.
The actions taking by lawmakers at the end of the session pushed spending to about $114.7 billion, or more than $10 billion over last year’s total, the analysis said.
The Comptroller’s office, which studied preliminary budget figures, said that their analysis also found that spending is growing nearly twice as fast as revenue.
“Both General Fund and All Funds spending is projected to grow twice as fast as revenues between 2005-06 and 2008-09,” the Comptroller’s office said. “For example, General Funds spending is expected to increase nearly 30 percent, while revenues grow by 15 percent.”
The analysis also found that the state’s budget gap will increase to $13.9 billion after taking into account recent legislative actions. “After the Legislature acted on the budget, the Division of Budget calculated a two-year General Fund budget gap of $9.8 billion, while the Comptroller’s office identified an additional $3 billion in risks that could raise that gap to as much as $12.8 billion,” the Comptroller’s office said.
The analysis also noted that while lawmakers' much-lauded property-tax rebate checks will have an annual cost of $920 million, "no new or increased General Fund revenue sources were identified in the supplemental budget."
This year’s final budget will have a total of $16.5 billion in new debt, with the state bearing direct responsibility for $11.8 billion of that amount, the analysis found.
The Comptroller’s office also found that lawmakers used surplus revenue to pay for operational spending.
“Best practices dictate that a one-time revenue, such as a surplus, should be used for one-time spending,” the Comptroller’s office said. “However, barring significant increases in receipts through the 2006-07 fiscal year, nearly the entire $2 billion surplus from 2005-06 will be used for 2006-07 recurring spending.”
The complete analysis is available in PDF format at www.osc.state.ny.us/reports/budget/2006/supp_budget_factsht.pdf.