The city sent Albany $7 billion more than it got back in funding and services in the state fiscal year 2001, a new study shows.

The figure is more than double the working figure, $2.6 billion, city officials had used to convince lawmakers in Albany they needed more state money.

While Mayor Bloomberg is likely to use the report as a brickbat to compel lawmakers to give the city more of its due, especially for education, there are some reasons to take the numbers with a grain of salt.

To begin with, the city commissioned the $77,250 report from the Center for Government Research. Secondly, the report covers four New York State fiscal years from March 31, 1998, to March 31, 2001 – a time in which the American economy was booming and tax receipts were at an all-time high.

So it is possible that the $7 billion figure is artificially high.

Even so, the Bloomberg administration began its campaign to redress the imbalance yesterday with a statement by the budget director, Mark Page.

“New York City is the growth engine for the State of New York, generating more than our share of revenues to support the rest of the State,” he said in a statement accompanying the report.

“However, as the update report shows, New York State spending in New York City is way short of our fair share,” it read.

The new figures are likely to become central to a debate over how much the state sends New York for education spending.

A court ruled that Albany has been shortchanging the city and lawmakers are looking for ways to fill the gap.