Local governments and school districts throughout New York State should adopt long-term financial planning as a core element of their budgeting practices, according to a report issued today by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More
Press Releases
New York State can save money and improve health outcomes in its $54 billion Medicaid program by giving patients more incentive to “take ownership” of their own healthcare, according to a new report released today by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More
A searchable online database of earnings for 366,640 employees of New York State school districts outside New York City was posted today at SeeThroughNY.net, the transparency website sponsored by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More
New York’s counties, municipalities and school districts can eventually eliminate their long-term liabilities for retiree health benefits by encouraging the creation of employee-run Retirement Medical Trusts (RMTs), according to the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More
New York’s public-sector employees have been promised $250 billion in post-retirement health benefits that the state and its local governments have set aside no money to pay for, according to updated figures released today by the Empire Center for Public Policy. These obligations have increased by $45 billion since the Empire Center first reported on them in 2010. Read More
Ninety-five out of 933 state Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS) members who retired in 2011 qualified for a pension of more than $100,000, according to data posted at SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s government transparency website. Read More
With New Yorkers preparing to vote on school budget propositions next Tuesday, the Empire Center today released the latest data for its Internet-based tool -- BenchmarkingNY’s Property Taxes by Location -- allowing taxpayers to compute and compare total school district, municipal and county tax burdens in thousands of communities across the state. Read More
Most New York school districts are proposing to hold their per-pupil tax levies within the levels permitted by a new statewide property tax cap, and the average proposed per-pupil spending increase is at or below the projected inflation rate in six out of nine regions of the state, according to an analysis issued today by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More
Seventy-one percent of New York State’s public school teachers support giving new teachers a choice between a defined-contribution retirement plan and a traditional defined-benefit pension, according to a statewide poll conducted for the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More
Today New Yorkers can search the complete 2011 state government payroll on SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s government transparency website. The database includes names, titles, base pay rates, and total pay received by the 288,539 people who worked in the state’s executive, legislative, or judicial branches at any point in calendar year 2011. Read More
A popular retirement plan first authorized almost 50 years ago for employees of the State University of New York (SUNY) can be a model for a defined-contribution option that would be offered to all new state and local employees under Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Tier 6 pension reform proposal, according to a report released today by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More
The case against New York’s 30-year-old “Triborough Amendment,” whose repeal has been a mandate relief priority of local and school officials throughout the state, is laid out in a new report issued today by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More