NY employers near payoff of unemployment debt

An annual surcharge on New York businesses to repay a debt with the federal government will see another decrease this year as the state prepares to phase out the fee.

On the average unemployment insurance interest assessment surcharge bill this year, businesses will owe about 93 cents per employee, down from the average last year of $5.95 per employee and $21.25 per employee four years ago.

The state’s unemployment insurance fund went into debt for seven years when it could not pay claims filed by unemployed workers and borrowed $3.5 billion from the federal government. The surcharge was introduced to pay the interest on the money owed.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed legislation in 2013 that included a repayment plan to pay off the federal loan faster. The Cuomo administration estimated that the reform law saved businesses $200 million in interest that could have been owed. The surcharge is scheduled to be phased out by 2016.