Businesses will need to pay higher taxes for years to cover the cost of unemployment during the pandemic.
Comptroller Tom DiNapoli determined there was a $9 billion dollar deficit in the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.
To cover the unemployment claims in New York State, $6.5 billion was borrowed by the federal government.
That money needs to be paid back, and to keep the state from cutting into its own revenue, businesses are going to need to replenish the money with higher federal unemployment taxes.
As the state and local businesses all struggle to bounce back from the shutdown, a $9 billion dollar debt owed to Washington D.C. looms ahead.
The unemployment fund was already lower than what was recommended by the U.S. Department of Labor before the pandemic and is now in the negative.
Using federal aid and stimulus money is an option for bringing the taxes down, but Governor Kathy Hochul has not indicated that will be done.
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