Ninety-Three State/Local Public Authorities Did Not File Any Financial Disclosures

Reinvent Albany is glad to see that the New York State Authorities Budget Office (ABO) has published its report on delinquent authorities.

Last week, Reinvent Albany found that the ABO had not published the report since before the pandemic. The ABO responded quickly to our inquiry and updated its list of delinquent authorities, which reveals:

• 147 authorities have failed to file either their budget report, annual report, or audit report.
• 93 authorities have failed to file all three of these basic, legally required financial disclosures. 
• The vast majority of the delinquent authorities are local not-for-profit corporations.

The ABO is a crucial state agency that oversees 594 state and local authorities ranging from the mammoth MTA to small-town parking authorities. Together these spend tens of billions of dollars every year and hold hundreds of billions in public debt. Reinvent Albany and other watchdogs have repeatedly urged state leaders to provide the ABO $5 million in annual funding so that the agency can fulfill its mission. The Governor and Legislature proposed only $2.8 million in the SFY 2023-24 budget.

Currently, the ABO only has the power to censure delinquent authorities and recommend the suspension of officers and directors. Lawmakers can give the ABO more teeth by passing S977-A (Gaughran)/A2631-A (Thiele) of 2021, which would allow the agency to commence a proceeding to dissolve an authority that has acted outside its mission.