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A Fiscal Report Card
November 11th, 2009

With Gov. David Paterson and various fiscal experts warning of dire financial starts for the state, a report released by the Pew Center for the States gave Senate Finance Committee chair Carl Kruger reason for cheer. Citing the report — a fiscal scorecard for the 50 states — Kruger issued a statement saying that a number of them, including California, Florida, Wisconsin, and Illinois, “are on the verge of collapse.” But here, he continued, “actions we have taken to maintain a balanced budget and secure access to vital services for at-risk or unemployed families has kept New York’s economy stable even in an economic crisis.”

A reading of the report, however, indicates it does not exactly offer cause for celebration. Yes, some states, notably California, the poster child for bad fiscal management, score worse than New York. But 33 of the 50 are doing better than we are. And while the fiscal peril score for all states comes out to 17, New York is in somewhat worse shape with score of 20 on a scale of 1 to 30. (The higher score, the more trouble you’re in, so California has the dubious distinction of a negative perfect 30.)

New York gets help from its comparatively low home foreclosure rate: 0.76 percent, compared to 1.37 percent for the country and a whopping 3.12 percent in Nevada. We’ve also had less of an increase in unemployment than many other states.

But, Kruger to the contrary, New York shows up badly on the very thing the state government can control: the size of the budget gap. Pew puts ours at 32.3 percent of general funds for fiscal year 2010. This is the fifth highest in the nation. New York also saw the third largest drop in revenue — 17 percent — exceeded only by Virginia and Oregon.

By Gail Robinson on November 11, 2009, 5:36 pm
In category: Albany, Measuring UP, Public Finance | 1 Comment »

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One Response to “A Fiscal Report Card”

  1. Larry Littlefield Says:
    November 12th, 2009 at 10:01 am

    Just remember, New York’s taxes as a share of its residents’ personal income are the highest in the country, save (in some years) for Wyoming and Alaska where most of the taxes are on oil.

    Any of those states in worse financial shape would be better off if their residents paid as much in taxes as New Yorkers. And we are paying more and getting less and less in return.

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