Comments on NYS Comptroller Public Authority Reporting Regulations

April 7, 2025

April 7, 2025

VIA EMAIL

Marcella Buell
Assistant Counsel for Legislation, Budget, and Policy
Office of the State Comptroller
110 State Street
Albany, NY 12236

Re: Strengthening public authority reporting requirements with stricter waiver process

Dear Ms. Buell,

We write to provide comments on the Office of the State Comptroller’s (OSC) proposed amendments to public authority reporting regulations. We largely support the proposed amendments to the regulations, but ask that you make the following changes:

  1. We strongly support ensuring that waivers provided by OSC only relate to deadlines – not the reporting requirements themselves. However, we ask that you:
    1. Limit deadline extensions to no more than 30 days. Currently, authorities are required to submit reports 90 days after the end of their fiscal year. Further delay will decrease the usefulness of the Authorities Budget Office annual reports, which already note that delayed receipt of reports from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority skews the findings regarding total NYS authority expenses for the year.  
    2. Retain current language that explains the determination process that OSC uses to issue waivers, including the scope of the waiver, the reason for it, and the new reporting date. While this process may still be followed internally by OSC, it is important for the public and authorities to know that there is a rational process for waiving deadlines.
  2. Retain current language regarding the Comptroller’s authority to review third-party contracts made by authorities on behalf of the state, rather than strike it. We see no harm in retaining the current language in the regulations. 
  3. As part of supporting information that is required for budget and financial plans, we ask that you additionally require submission of a statement regarding transfer of liabilities or future revenue.
  4. Consider whether additional terms should be added to define more types of state-supported debt, such as the issuance of trust certificates. 

More detailed comments are provided for individual sections of the draft regulations below.

Part 201 – Accounting, Reporting and Supervision Requirements for Public Authorities

  • We support the additional language requiring posting of reports on authorities’ websites.
  • As noted above, we ask that you tighten the waiver process to limit extension of deadlines by no more than 30 days, and to ensure that the determination process for approving waivers is retained in the regulations. 

Part 202 – Budget and Financial and Strategic Operation Plan Format, Supporting Documentation and Monitoring–Metropolitan Transportation Authority

  • It is good to see OSC update the list of MTA subsidiaries to include MTA Grand Central Madison Operating Company in Part 202.2 (c).
  • We support inclusion of language in Part 202.2 (h) and (i) that amends the definition of budget gaps to include “whether such actions are initiated by the MTA or required to be implemented by the MTA through other means, including but not limited to federal, New York State or New York City legislative action.” We hope that this will result in more detailed reporting by MTA regarding reconciliation between planned and actual budgets. 
  • We support use of gender neutral language in Part 202.3 (l).

Part 203 – Budget and Financial Plan Format, Supporting Documentation and Monitoring

  • We support the amendment explicitly requiring adoption of authority budget and financial plans prior to the start of its fiscal year, and that these be submitted to the State Comptroller in Part 203.4.
  • We support the new requirements that authorities submit (1) a statement of any transaction transferring funds to other State or local authorities or agencies or to any non-governmental organization; and (2) any needs assessments conducted by the authority in Part 203.6.
  • We ask that you additionally require submission of a statement regarding transfer of liabilities or future revenue, such as a public authority foregoing rent payments and allowing those payments to be sent directly to a renter’s creditors, per Industrial Development Authorities and tenants at their industrial parks.

Part 204 – Accounting and Reporting for Public Authorities that Issue State-Supported Debt

  • We support further clarifications of what constitutes state-supported debt in 204.3, such as lines of credit, loans, or other financing arrangements. We encourage you to consider whether any additional terms should be added to encompass all forms of authority borrowing from the public or public markets, such as trust certificates or liabilities or debt repaid by the authority or directly by user fees.
  • We also support the additional language in 204.6 to require more information about investments and fair market valuations techniques used by authorities.
  • Lastly, we support additional disclosures for defeased debt, and additional debt disclosures including: descriptions of any direct borrowings and/or direct placements including outstanding amount; amount of unused lines of credit; assets pledged as collateral for debt; and debt agreement terms related to default or terminations with finance-related consequences, and subjective acceleration clauses.

Part 206 – Comptroller Approval of Contracts Made by State Authorities

  • We do not understand the rationale for removal of language in 206.1(b) regarding the authority of the Comptroller to review third-party contracts when the authority is issuing a contract “for” the state. The removal of this language follows a clause that says nothing in these provisions diminish the Comptroller’s authority to approve authority contracts as otherwise required by law or resolution. Because the third-party language is preceded by “including, but not limited to,” we see no harm in continuing to include this example, given the policy interest of ensuring that the Comptroller’s Office sees more contracts issued by authorities – particularly if done so on behalf of the state. 

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Rachael Fauss
Senior Policy Advisor
Reinvent Albany

CC:

Pete Grannis, First Deputy Comptroller
Maria Doulis, Deputy Comptroller for Budget and Policy

Click here to view the letter as a PDF.