Taxation and Finance, Department of

Agency Web Site: http://www.tax.ny.gov/

Mission

The Department of Taxation and Finance (DTF) collects tax revenue and provides associated services in support of certain New York State government operations. In fulfilling its responsibilities, the Department collects and accounts for $58 billion in State taxes and about $37 billion in local taxes; administers 37 State and nine local taxes, including New York City and City of Yonkers income taxes, as well as the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility Tax; and processes approximately 33 million returns, registrations, and associated documents. The Department also manages the State Treasury, which provides investment and cash management services to various State agencies and public benefit corporations, and acts on the Tax Commissioner’s behalf as joint custodian of the State’s General Checking Account. On June 6, 2010, the Department statutorily merged with the former Office of Real Property Services (ORPS) in order to realize significant savings and efficiencies and enhance the State’s oversight of local property tax administration by tapping the Department’s vast information technology infrastructure and personnel assets.

Budget Highlights

The Executive Budget recommends $484.9 million All Funds ($296.2 million General Fund; $188.6 million Other Funds) for the Department of Taxation and Finance. This is an increase of $61.2 million or 14.4 percent ($9.1 million in General Fund and $52.1 million in Other Funds) from the 2012-13 levels. The net increase primarily reflects costs associated with additional revenue generating initiatives, collective bargaining agreements, and statewide call center consolidation efforts.

The Executive Budget recommends a workforce of 4,379 FTEs for the Department. This is an increase of 204 FTEs from the 2012-13 budget. The increase is primarily driven by additional revenue generating initiatives.

Major budget actions include:

• Augmenting audit and collection activities to strengthen taxpayer compliance and increase revenue to the State.
• Implementing a re-registration initiative for the STAR property tax exemption to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in the STAR program.
• Consolidating the call center operations of several State agencies into a new Tax Contact Center to drive savings and increase effectiveness.
• Leveraging the operational and technological capabilities of the Department’s print facility to assume the print operations of several agencies to achieve savings.
• Collaborating with the Division of Budget and the Office of Information Technology to effectuate the Governor’s vision to transform the State’s delivery of IT services to maximize existing resources, meet agency business needs with world-class customer service, create a talented, innovative IT workforce, and provide significant cost savings.
• Continuing to expand and enhance the Department's Business Analytics capabilities in order to drive efficiencies, increase revenue collections, and mitigate fraudulent activities.

Note: Most recent estimates as of 01/22/2013

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