Settlement Ensures Repairs Of Building Defects At Vestry Street Condominium

Attorney General Spitzer announced today that New York State, New York City and the 57 counties outside New York City are scheduled to receive almost a quarter billion dollars from the tobacco companies on December 29.

The payment is not due officially until January 10, 2001, but the tobacco industry will be making the payment early for the second consecutive year.

"This is a great holiday gift to the state and its residents," Spitzer said. "Big Tobacco's payment will really help improve the end-of-year balance sheets of local governments."

The $247 million payment will be divided among New York State, New York City and the individual counties, with the state scheduled to receive $126 million (51 percent), New York City receiving $66 million (27 percent), and a total of $55 million (22 percent) being paid to the other 57 counties.

The payment is part of the 1998 tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), which requires tobacco companies to pay $209 billion to 52 states and territories, and also imposes significant marketing and advertising restrictions on the participating tobacco manufacturers. New York is currently projected to receive about $25 billion over the first 25 years of the settlement, with additional payments continuing thereafter.

This is the fourth payment that New York's state and local governments have received under the MSA. The payments so far are as follows:

Payment Date	Amount
December 14, 1999	$  315 million
December 31, 1999	$  274 million
April 17, 2000	$  441 million
December 29, 2000	$  247 million
Total:	$  1.277 billion

The exact amounts of the expected December 29, 2000 payments to New York State and its local governments are set forth on the attached chart.

Attachments:

• Chart: Exact Amounts of the Expected December 29, 2000 Payments to New York State and its Local Governments

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