Comptroller Stringer Releases New York City’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report For Fiscal Year 2014

NEW YORK, NY – New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer announced today that his office has released the City’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (Annual Report) for Fiscal Year 2014. The FY14 Annual Report reflects a major change in pension reporting one year ahead of the required deadline and is one of the first major city or state governments to do so.

“Meeting stringent new pension disclosure guidelines a year ahead of schedule was an enormous undertaking and demonstrates New York City’s leadership in making municipal financial information more transparent and accessible,” Comptroller Stringer said. “Implementing these new standards in the FY14 Annual Report was the product of a substantial collaboration among New York City’s five pension systems, the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Office of the Actuary and the Comptroller’s Accountancy Bureau.”

The Annual Report is released annually no later than October 31^st and contains the City’s government-wide financial statements, the City’s five pension systems’ financial information, and also provides explanatory notes to the financial statements and supplemental financial and statistical information about the City.

For the 34^th consecutive year, New York City completed its fiscal year with a General Fund surplus, as determined by Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The General Fund had revenues and other financing sources in FY14 of $72.880 billion and expenditures and other financing uses of $72.875 billion, resulting in a surplus of $5 million.

The new Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) standard, Statement No. 68, changes the way pension liabilities are reported in the City’s government-wide financial statements. These new reporting requirements do not affect the City’s budget or the determination of the City’s annual contribution toward its pension obligations.

At the direction of Comptroller Stringer, this year’s Annual Report has several additional transparency measures. Reporting of fiduciary funds in the supplemental section of the Annual Report has increased. Footnotes on bonds and notes payable now more clearly distinguish between the City’s General Obligation debt and that of its blended component units. And the long-term liabilities section of the Statement of Net Position is now broken down in to more detailed categories for greater information.

“I want to particularly acknowledge the City’s five pension systems, OMB and the Office of the Actuary for their partnership with my staff in assembling the most transparent and comprehensive Annual Report in this City’s history,” Stringer said.

Highlights of the City’s and Comptroller’s Office operations in FY14 include:

• For the 34th consecutive year, the City of New York was awarded the prestigious Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA)
• Fiscal year expenditures and other financing uses were $1.85 billion more than in Fiscal Year 2013, an increase of 3 percent;
• The City’s Central Treasury carried an average daily unrestricted cash balance of $7.78 billion during FY14, with a fiscal year-end balance of $9.86 billion;
• As of June 30, 2014, the City pension funds had aggregate investment assets, excluding cash from the settlement of pending purchases and sales, of $160.6 billion, an all-time high;
• The City pension funds paid benefits totaling $12.7 billion during Fiscal Year 2014. Employer and employee contributions to the City pension funds were $9.7 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively. The remaining $1.5 billion of benefits were funded from the sale of investments;
• Under GASB 68, pension assets represent 72.5 percent of estimated pension costs. This measure is conceptually similar to what historically has been called a funded ratio;
• The reported costs of Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) decreased by $3.04 billion, due primarily to slower than anticipated growth in health care costs;
• The Economically Targeted Investment program made cumulative investments of $62 million in individual multifamily projects through its Public/Private Apartment Rehabilitation program. These investments financed the rehabilitation or new construction of 1,675 units of affordable housing;
• The Comptroller’s Office, on behalf of the City pension funds, submitted 48 shareowner proposals to a total of 47 portfolio companies with annual meetings scheduled FY14. Twenty-two proposals were withdrawn after the companies agreed to adopt the requested reform, either in whole or in part, or took steps to address the City pension funds’ underlying concerns;
• The City, the New York City Transitional Finance Authority and the New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority issued $10.95 billion of long-term bonds to finance the City’s capital needs and to refinance outstanding bonds for interest savings. As of June 30, 2014, the City’s outstanding General Obligation debt totaled $41.67 billion, consisting of $34.46 billion of fixed rate bonds and $7.21 billion of variable rate bonds;
• The City spent $732 million in settlements and judgments (tort and non-tort), an increase of $208 million from the prior year;
• The Comptroller’s Office’s Bureau of Labor Law assessed $5.4 million in back pay and interest against private contractors that violated New York’s Labor Law and assessed $411,000 in penalty money against those contractors; and
• The Bureau of Audit issued 43 audits and special reports, identifying approximately $48.4 million in actual and potential revenue and savings. Reviews of claims filed against the City identified another $19.7 million in cost avoidance.

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