Local government spending on roads, bridges, and water and sewer systems declined by approximately 8% in 2012 compared to 2010,
The report also found that the state's municipalities should be spending a total of $3.9 billion annually on capital needs but were instead spending about $1.2 billion, a 69% shortfall.
"New York continues to take a band-aid approach to fixing its roads, bridges and water and sewer systems," said DiNapoli. "Municipalities are coping with limited financial resources, rising costs, and most recently, major storms that have diverted money away from long-term projects in order to fund emergency repairs and cleanup efforts. Clearly, both state and local officials will need to work together to identify innovative ways to address our infrastructure needs.
"Fortunately, New York's recent influx of [bank] settlement money gives us options to start tackling some of these capital projects," DiNapoli said. "We also need the federal government to step up its commitment to supporting the states' vast capital needs."
Spending on water systems showed the greatest decline in the period, dropping 35%, DiNapoli's staff found. This partly reflected the phase out of the funding found in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Despite the decline in spending of infrastructure, localities' outstanding capital debt rose 2% to 2012 from 2010 to $22 billion. This debt increased 58% compared to 2002.
DiNapoli recommended that local officials create use a comprehensive capital planning process and coordinate with state agencies to address needs. He also called for the officials to work with state and federal officials to identify funding. Last, he called for exploring the use of public-private partnerships to address infrastructure needs.
