The report from the General Accounting Office found that New York City and New York state lost $1.6 billion each for fiscal year 2002.
The shortfalls could get worse. The GAO estimated that revenue losses in fiscal year 2003 would total $5.6 billion -- $1.4 billion for the city and $4.2 billion for the state.
Congressional investigators were quick to note that those figures "are more uncertain because they depend on some factors that are yet to be determined, such as the degree to which the attacks have made New York City a less attractive location for business."
The GAO based its estimates on New York's fiscal calendars. New York City's 2002 fiscal year ended June 30 and New York state's March 31.
Most of the shortfall came from a sharp drop in personal income tax revenues -- $5.8 billion over both fiscal years for the city and the state. Reduced business and sales tax revenues are also to blame, the report found.
The report said New York was also hurt by the economic slowdown already under way at the time of the attacks as well as economic fallout from "the collapse of Enron and accounting firm improprieties."
While the federal government has approved $21.4 billion in aid and tax breaks for New York City, Washington has been reluctant to reimburse the city outright for lost tax revenue.
The GAO report noted that the federally administered Community Disaster Loan Program is available to help local governments replace lost revenues.
But Rep. Carolyn Maloney said Congress capped the available loans from that program at $5 million in 2000, limiting their usefulness. Maloney -- one of the eight New York Democrats who requested the GAO report -- is sponsoring legislation that would eliminate that cap.
The U.S. Virgin Islands received $50 million through the loan program in 1989 to help with Hurricane Hugo, and Homestead, Fla., got $13.5 million in 1992 for Hurricane Andrew, according to Maloney's office.
"The ability to reimburse a local government following a major disaster is crucial to its recovery and was available prior to the restrictive limits that were added in 2000," Maloney wrote in a letter to House colleagues seeking support for her bill. New York Democratic Reps. Jerrold Nadler and Steve Israel, co-sponsors of the bill, also signed the letter.
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