New York’s new state budget is spending taxpayers’ money at a rate of more than $15 million every hour, or $4,373 per second, according to a whirring “$pend-O-Meter” created by the Empire Center for New York State Policy.

The fiscally conservative think tank’s online device shows the $137.9 billion budget adopted Monday spends $377.8 million per day and more than $2 billion per week.

About another $5 billion in temporary federal funds for recovery from superstorm Sandy and for implementation of the Affordable Care Act is not included.”New York State government will spend $16.7 million more per day under the newly enacted budget than it did just five years ago,” said E.J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center. “Our $pend-O-Meter is just one way to put the massive New York State budget in perspective.”

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and the State Legislature have tried to reduce the rate of spending. The budget passed Monday keeps spending increases under 2 percent for the fourth straight year. The total budget has grown more than $36 billion since the 2004-05 budget, which totaled $101.6 billion, according to state budget records.

Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s first and only budget increased state spending by 10.3 percent in 2007. The budget adopted in 2004 under Republican Gov. George Pataki swelled after overrides of his vetoes by 10.7 percent.

Govs. Hugh Carey and Mario Cuomo, both Democrats, presided over a string of budgets that each increased state spending by more than 10 percent.”The state has been more disciplined,” said Elizabeth Lynam of the nonpartisan Citizens Budget Commission.

The commission has expressed concern about the 2015-16 fiscal year, after the 2014-15 election year budget. The 2014-15 budget pushes the cost of much of the promised tax cuts and part of the 5 percent increase in school aid into the next fiscal year, when a temporary millionaires tax extended by Cuomo and the legislature that brings in $2 billion a year is due to expire.

Cuomo and the legislature also agreed to borrow up to $5 billion for construction projects and other spending.

New Yorkers will be able to vote on $2 billion of the total meant to to provide updated computers and to build computer labs in schools. Borrowing for schools is usually approved by voters. About $6 billion a year is already spent to pay for existing debt, one of the higher totals among states.

“Governor Cuomo is desperate to fool New Yorkers into thinking he has changed the state’s spending problem,” said Jessica Proud, spokesman for Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino, the Westchester County executive. “Nothing has changed.”

Cuomo didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan, fiscally conservative group, on Wednesday ranked New York tops in total state and local tax burden as a percentage of state income.

The organization’s formula used 2011 taxes and statistics, and determined that New York’s “state-local tax burden as share of state income” was 12.6 percent. That’s based on an income of $52,417 and other factors. New Yorkers paid an average of $5,258 to the state and $6,622 to local governments in 2011, the Tax Foundation said.

© 2014 Newsday

You may also like

State’s Growing Budget Hole Threatens NYC Jobs and Aid as Congress Takes a Holiday

“The biggest problem for the state is the enormous, recurring structural budget gap starting next year and into the future,” said E.J. McMahon of the conservative-leaning Empire Center. “Cuomo clearly hopes that starting in 2021, (Democratic presidential candidate Joseph) Biden and a Democratic Congress will provide states and local government a couple of year’s worth of added stimulus. Read More

How Andrew Cuomo became ‘maybe the most powerful governor’ in U.S.

Ed McKinley ALBANY — When the New York Constitution was reorganized nearly 100 years ago to give the governor more power over the budget process,  noted there was a risk of making “the governor a czar." M Read More

Study disputes Cuomo on Trump tax package; experts say it’s complicated

Michael Gormley ALBANY — A new study by a conservative think tank says President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax law gave most New Yorkers a tax cut, even as Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo insists on repealing the measure because he says it will cost New Yo Read More

Empire Center sues Department of Health over nursing home records

Johan Sheridan ALBANY, N.Y. () — The Empire Center filed a  against the state Department of Health on Friday. “This case isn’t about assigning blame or embarrassing political leaders,” said Bill Hammond, the Empire Center’s Read More

Good news: That New York pork isn’t going out the door after all

The Empire Center first reported Tuesday that grants — 226 of them, totaling $46 million, to recipients selected by the governor and individual state lawmakers — seemed to still be going ahead. Read More

New York Lawmakers Seek Independent Probe of Nursing-Home Coronavirus Deaths

With lingering questions about how the novel coronavirus killed thousands of New Yorkers who lived in nursing homes, a group of state lawmakers is pushing to create an independent commission to get answers from the state Department of Health. Read More

Policy analyst: Cuomo wrong to write-off nursing home criticism as political conspiracy

“The importance of discussing this and getting the true facts out is to understand what did and didn’t happen so we can learn from it in case this happens again,” Hammond said. Read More

EDITORIAL: Nursing home report requires a second opinion

No doubt, the Health Department and the governor would like this report to be the final word on the subject. But if it’s all the same with them, we’d still like a truly independent review. Read More
Text here