Metro

‘Red’ alert! State is down to la$t few mil

ALBANY — The state’s cash reserves sunk to an all-time low yesterday as the comptroller warned that the treasury could ring in the New Year in the red for the first time.

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said the state was on track to start the day with a mere $833 million on hand — about half a percent of its total $133 billion budget and the lowest figure ever recorded in at least three decades of the present accounting system.

In making the announcement, DiNapoli chided Gov. Paterson and lawmakers for approving an overly optimistic budget in April, and predicted that repercussions from the cash crisis would soon be felt by schools and local governments.

“We’ve never seen a cash-flow situation this dire in New York state and for the first time in history, the state could actually end a month in the red,” DiNapoli said.

“It all could have been avoided with a more realistic budget passed last April.”

The sudden dip in savings came as Budget Director Robert Megna approved $3.8 billion to cover a host of bills, including $2.2 billion for tax relief and aid to local school districts.

The state also paid $1.3 billion to cover Medicaid costs — among the biggest monthly payments it has ever made under the health program for the poor.

Meanwhile, the state took in $772 million in tax revenues, leaving just $833 million in its coffers.

A Budget Division spokesman said the dwindling cash reserves justify Paterson’s decision earlier this month to withhold $750 million in aid to schools and local governments. Education groups have sued to stop the freeze.

“This is exactly why Gov. Paterson stood up to the special interests and took strong action to help ensure that the state would not run out of cash on his watch,” said the spokesman, Matt Anderson.

Paterson has said he expects the situation to ease when tax collections roll in next month.

The state has had as much as $16 billion on hand at one time, a high-water mark set during the housing boom in 2007.

The treasury has never before dipped under the $1.5 billion cash-on-hand figure recorded in May 1993.

Paterson will likely announce further cuts next month, when he’s required to give the Legislature a 2010 spending plan that closes a budget deficit of up to $9 billion.

The crisis had even liberal Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) sounding conservative during an interview on Albany’s WGDJ radio.

“We have to adjust our spending levels, and that’s the real way to get this deficit under control,” Silver said. “We can’t keep hoping for the future that the rebounds will be extraordinary.”

brendan.scott@nypost.com