If Gov. David Paterson and state legislators continue to do nothing about the way they spend money, the state’s general bank account will be $1 billion short at the end of December, according to state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, the man who writes the checks.

That means the state will not be able to pay $2.5 billion to cities, towns and villages for property taxes residents have not paid because of the state’s STAR exemption.

It means the state will not be able to make a $1.6 billion payment to schools.

And it means the state could miss five weekly payments of about $400 million each to hospitals and other providers who give services to Medicaid patients.

“If anybody thinks the numbers are going to take care of themselves, they’re wrong,” DiNapoli said.

The state has already dipped into its short-term investment pool, or cash reserves, for $5 billion. There is not enough left to raid.

It is an option for the state to borrow money, but DiNapoli says the state has borrowed enough for cash-flow emergencies.

In fact, the state already owes $10.4 billion to bondholders for the times it borrowed money for operating expenses. That’s 18 percent of the total $57 billion in state debt.

Borrowing for spending money limits the state’s ability to borrow for buildings, construction and equipment — the kinds of purchases a state normally finances with long-term bonds.

The state has limits on borrowing, but all it takes to raise those limits is an act of the state legislature. The state also has found a way around the Constitutional requirement that new debt be approved by voters. Lawmakers simply direct public authorities to issue bonds for them.

There is no science about when too much borrowing could threaten state bond ratings, DiNapoli said.

DiNapoli and others say the only way to put the state on solid financial ground is for the state to stop spending more money than it raises.

“I think the problems we have right now, while they are a consequence of severe economic downturn, they are also consequence of the fact that, for too many years, we have made spending commitments that haven’t been sustainable based on the revenue that’s coming in,” he said.

Instead of cutting spending for this fiscal year, the state increased it and then overestimated its revenues, said E.J. McMahon, director of the Empire Center for Public Policy, part of the fiscally conservative Manhattan Institute.

“When you come down to it, the state increased spending at a time when inflation was at about zero, wages were down, unemployment was up and the economy was getting hammered,” McMahon said. “Picture a runaway freight train where they’re basically throwing the furniture into the engine.”

The state’s revenue is based on employment and consumer spending, which are both suffering.

Personal income tax accounts for 60 percent of the state’s income. The state has lost 275,000 jobs.

New York ranks fifth among states in the percentage of revenues that comes from personal income taxes. Some other states rely more heavily on property taxes.

New York also benefits from taxes on high-income taxpayers, and their income is largely dependent upon the value of investments that fell sharply in the stock market decline, said Natasha Altamirano, spokeswoman for the national group, The Tax Foundation.

“‘Millionaire’s taxes’ are not stable sources of revenue,” Altamirano said. “When there’s a stock market problem or an economic downturn, those revenues will also plummet.”

Another chunk of state revenue — 25 percent — comes from sales and use taxes. Sales taxes in New York City in the first three quarters of the year are about 11.4 percent lower than the same time last year. Sales tax revenue is down about 7.2 percent in the state outside the city.

That’s a loss of $789 million.

Gov. Paterson called an extraordinary session of the state Legislature last week to deal with quickly draining state finances. Paterson proposed cuts to schools and health care — two areas where New York spends more than any other state, but two areas that public employee unions will fight.

The governor and legislators did not agree on any budget cuts in the short time they came together on Monday and Tuesday.

The state Senate and Assembly are expected to return to Albany this week.

New Yorkers can take some heart, perhaps, in a recent report by The Pew Center that lists 10 states that could follow in California’s financial footsteps. New York is not among the states in the “Beyond California: States in Fiscal Peril” report. California received the worst rating, and New York landed in a four-way tie for 14th place.

California ordered furlough days for employees, wrote IOUs when it didn’t have enough money to pay bills, and just this month began withholding 10 percent more in income taxes from private and public paychecks.

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