A new report by the Empire Center for Public Policy contains findings about local government in the Mohawk Valley that at first seem counterintuitive. Labor Day is a good time to take a closer look.
The area’s county, town and village government employees, the report finds, are paid lower than their counterparts in all other parts of New York state. And employees of the region’s cities are the second-lowest paid in New York.
How could that be, you might ask, when local taxes are so high and when governments here are struggling with payroll and pension costs? The answer is simple, but the solution complicated. Quite simply, our region lacks the incomes and business activity needed to generate a substantial tax base. So tax-paying residents and businesses are having trouble supporting even relatively modest levels of government pay.
The solution? Grow that tax base on a wide array of levels…
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