ALBANY – Fifteen state agencies failed to meet Gov. Paterson’s demand for a 10.3% spending cut, the Daily News has learned.

The agencies, including some of the largest departments, left the state $271 million, nearly 25%, short of Paterson’s goal of $1.1billion in savings this fiscal year.

“Obviously, they are going to have to do better to have any hope of closing the budget shortfall next year,” said E.J. McMahon of the Manhattan Institute.

Jeffrey Gordon, a spokesman for the state Budget Division, defended the administration’s cost-cutting efforts. He said the state police and the Department of Correctional Services accounted for 80% of the unattained savings.

Paterson “made a determination not to include them in a requirement to achieve their savings targets so as not to compromise public safety,” Gordon said.

Most of the state’s 74 departments met or exceeded targeted cuts, Gordon said.

Paterson, who often complains that some state lawmakers don’t grasp the seriousness of the state’s budget woes, began calling for the spending reductions immediately after he took office in March. Initially, he sought a 3.3% cut. He later upped it to 10.3%.

The state faces a deficit of as much as $2billion this year and a projected $12.5 billion gap in the 2009-10 budget.

Some departments, including the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Department of Taxation and Finance and the state lottery agency, stated that additional cuts would jeopardize their ability to generate revenue for the state.

The Department of Transportation, which fell about $20 million short of its $60.5 million goal, said it needed to hold money in reserve for snow removal.

“Nobody wanted to go the whole month of February without having enough money to plow the snow,” said DOT spokesman Charles (Skip) Carrier.

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