On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Cavuto: Coast to Coast,” New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli (D) discussed the state’s projected $36 billion budget shortfall over three years and stated that taxpayers leaving the state is part of the issue along with the fact that the economy is slowing down.

DiNapoli stated, “I think there are a couple of factors happening: There’s no doubt the economy certainly is slowing and we are feeling the effects in the current year collections of the slowdown, as far as financial services, Wall Street’s a very important part of the economy in New York State, so it’s kind of catching up. And, in terms of our budget planning process, in New York, we have a somewhat strange calendar of the fiscal year. It starts on April 1, and, of course, you don’t have your hard tax collection date until April 15. So, the budget that was put in place, frankly, was based on more optimistic numbers. But, in the current financial plan — the Division of Budget — was taken down each year for the next few years, $5 billion in revenue and we’re now slightly ahead of current updated projections, which have been lowered, but the weakness, Neil, has been in the personal income tax collections.”

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