"ALBANY, N.Y. — Using federal stimulus money to avoid layoffs at schools is going to create a shortfall even more difficult for states and schools to contend with when that money runs out, according to a first-of-its-kind study released Monday.
New York alone will see a $2 billion shortfall after stimulus money ends in 2011-12, and that could drive up some of the nation's highest local property taxes another 8 percent, according to the analysis by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
'This isn't just a New York problem,' DiNapoli said in an early and detailed analysis of school aid after federal stimulus funds run out in 2011-12. 'Other states across the country will face a similar dilemma if they used stimulus money to plug budget holes instead of paying for one-time expenses."