New York State expects to spend over $13 billion every year on roads, bridges, sewers and schools through 2024.
But State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says New York needs to develop a better strategy on how public resources will be used on these capital projects.
DiNapoli released a report this week that looks into just how unprepared New York is to spend billions of dollars to fix transportation, water treatment and education infrastructure statewide.
Transportation makes up more than a third of the state’s capital spending over the next five years, which is actually much lower than it’s been over the past decade. And New York doesn’t have a clear roadmap as to how it plans to pay for those projects, long term.
State agencies are required by law to look five years into the future.
But DiNapoli recommends the state create a council to lay out to the public the state’s plan for capital infrastructure projects in a 20-year strategy. That means putting into writing how agencies expect to borrow, finance or burden taxpayers.
