State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli issued a report, New York's Deficit Shuffle (PDF; not to be confused with the Truffle Shuffle) showing how NY State has hidden its budget deficits and ever-increasing spending by moving money around between accounts and other accounting "sleight of hand." DiNapoli is worried, "New York needs to stop playing games with the deficit. The state dips into dedicated funds here and shifts money over there, all to cover cash shortfalls and avoid making the difficult decisions needed to align spending with revenues. The end result is the state’s real fiscal condition is impossible to pin down. Every time the game is played, taxpayers lose."
According to CityRoom, "One of the biggest special funds, known as the Dedicated Highway and Bridge Trust Fund, has been raided by state officials so many times over the years that it is now nearly bankrupt and must be subsidized by the general fund, Mr. DiNapoli found.... [Additionally] state officials have obscured shortfalls by delaying bills due in one fiscal year into the next, rolling one year’s deficit into the following year."
However, Governor Paterson wasn't impressed with DiNapoli's findings, because he knows things are screwed, "Rather than saying, 'Oh look there's a fire!' what we need is advice for how to put the fire out."
