New York State Finances Receive a Grade of “F”

Repeated decisions by state officials have left the state with a staggering debt burden of $132.5 billion, according to Truth in Accounting's (TIA) analysis of New York’s most recent financial filings. That burden equates to $20,500 for every New York taxpayer.

These statistics are troubling, but what's more troubling is that state government officials continue to obscure large amounts of retirement debt on their balance sheets, despite new rules to increase financial transparency. This skewed financial data gives state residents a false impression of their state's overall financial health.

Truth in Accounting is a Chicago-based nonprofit think tank that analyzes state financial reports when they are published. According to their report for 2016, New York has $129.8 billion available assets to pay $262.3 billion worth of bills. This means that the state has a $132.5 billion shortfall and a $20,500 taxpayer burden™ which is each taxpayer's share of state bills after its available assets have been tapped. TIA's Taxpayer Burden™ measurement incorporates both assets and liabilities, not just pension debt.

Because of an accounting rule implemented last year, New York had to report its pension debt on its balance sheet. This year, the state's reported pension debt grew from $2.8 billion in 2015 to $13 billion in 2016. Despite reporting most of its pension debt, the state continues to hide most of its retiree health care debt. The state's total hidden debt, meaning debt the state does not report, comes to $69.2 billion.

The bottom line is that New York would need more than $20,000 from each of its taxpayers to pay all of its bills, so it has received an F for its finances from Truth in Accounting.

Here is how New York compares to Connecticut, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.
http://www.statedatalab.org/c/hoQbjfwr97ae2bf
Click on the link to go to an interactive chart on the our website.