Tim Hoefer

The MTA has now paid the Empire Center's expenses for a successful lawsuit compelling timely release of the agency's payroll data. Read More

Eighteen school districts sought to override the state's property tax cap in yesterday's school budget votes—the fewest attempts since the tax cap was enacted. Seven of those districts failed to win the 60 percent supermajority required to override the cap. Read More

If you’ve spent any time at a little league baseball or soccer game, or any children's sporting event, you know the cry of "hustle up" means move faster. It’s a way adults try to keep the game moving—and remind the players of what they ought to be doing. Read More

Good news to cap off Sunshine Week: at least some local government and school officials are working to make their websites more useful and informative. Read More

The corruption case against Speaker Sheldon Silver has prompted more calls for reform of the Legislature. Read More

It's a simple concept: governments collect tax dollars from citizens, then spends those tax dollars on services for them. Citizens have a right to know how those tax dollars are spent. Erie County Comptroller Stefan Mychajliw gets it. Read More

Eighty-five percent of the websites for New York’s 500 largest counties, municipalities and school districts failed to earn a passing grade in the Empire Center’s first annual SeeThroughNY Website Report Card Read More

A recent online survey asked, "should employees have the right to decide, without force or penalty, whether to join or leave a labor union?" Nearly 83 percent of New York respondents said yes, they should. Read More