The Empire Center for Public Policy, a fiscal watchdog organization for New York state government at all levels, has put out its annual "What They Make" report for municipal employees, and the results seem to indicate that Auburn city workers are getting paid well. Read More
The Empire Center, a fiscally conservative think tank, files thousands of so-called FOIL requests annually for public payrolls, pensions and other spending. It said the bills would have provided more teeth to hold state agencies more accountable to taxpayers. Read More
Governor Cuomo last week announced the completion of a construction project in Orange County, four years after the state Department of Transportation (DOT) deliberately added at least $4 million to the cost by improperly steering jobs to Hudson Valley unions—and cost taxpayers up to $22 million for the way it did it. Read More
"I want the Legislature to understand that we're serious about reform." So said Governor Andrew Cuomo following his veto of two bills that would have strengthened New York's Freedom of Information Law (FOIL)—helping citizens hold government, at all levels, more accountable. So if you can follow the governor's logic, before he could show us he was "serious about reform," he had to block a pair of reforms he had sitting on his desk. Read More
Amherst town police were the highest-paid group of local government employees north of the Mid-Hudson Valley, according to the Empire Center’s 2015 “What They Make” report. The town's 154 uniformed police officers were paid an average of $106,121. Read More
Canton's village police officers were the highest-paid group of local government employees last year, according to the Empire Center’s 2015 “What They Make” report. The nine police officers were paid an average of $73,729. Read More
Ithaca’s employees were the highest-paid city employees in the region, according to the Empire Center’s 2015 “What They Make” report. Its general employees were paid an average of $44,041, and its uniformed police and fire employees averaged $82,726. Read More
Oneida County paid its 1,825 employees an average of $41,795, more than the other five counties in the region, according to the Empire Center’s 2015 “What They Make” report. Read More