The Office of the New York State Comptroller recently released a positive report on local sales tax collections.

Not only were collections 15.5% higher than they were last year, they were 6.5% higher than they were in 2019, prior to the pandemic. 

But other economic indicators, including stock market, have been volatile lately.

On Monday, the S&P 500 posted its worst daily performance since May. The Dow Jones Industrial average saw its biggest one day drop since July. 

“Your points underscore the volatility of the time we’re going through,” Comptroller Tom DiNapoli told Capital Tonight. “But more signs are good than not in terms of the state’s fiscal and budget picture.”

DiNapoli points to the state’s budget position, which, compared to the enacted budget projections, is up $5.9 billion in revenue. Plus, in an updated financial plan which the Hochul administration released, there is $2 billion more in additional revenue.

“That may be a bit more conservative based on what we’re seeing today,” DiNapoli added. 

That is not to say that New York state is shielded from events including the expected defaulting of the giant Chinese developer Evergrande. 

When asked to what extent the New York State Pension Fund is invested in some of the companies that may be impacted by Evergrande’s expected default, DiNapoli said the state does have some exposure.

“[China] is such a big economy. If you’re going to be a universal investor, which we are as a now $260 billion fund, we’re going to be invested everywhere,” he explained. “We do have some Chinese exposure. It is not what I would call significant on a percentage basis.”

DiNapoli also told Capital Tonight that his office has slowed investments into China.