The update features data collected by the Office of the State Comptroller for local governments’ 2013 fiscal years. Other key findings include:
Among cities, White Plains had the highest per capita taxes at $1,898 and the highest per capita spending at $3,716. The Finger Lakes city of Geneva had the highest per capita debt at $3,318.
The Southern Tier town of Alma had the highest effective town tax rate at 1.69 percent.
The Long Island town of Oyster Bay, which last week passed a budget that reportedly hiked taxes 8.8 percent, had the highest per capita debt and spending of New York’s towns with more than 100,000 residents.
Allegany County residents paid the highest county property tax rate at 1.56 percent, while Lewis County had the highest per capita spending and Nassau County had the highest per capita debt.
“New Yorkers are paying some of the highest property taxes in the country, and Benchmarking New York is a powerful tool that lets them see exactly how their taxes compare to those in other communities,” said Tim Hoefer, executive director of the Empire Center. “While Albany mandates are responsible for a substantial amount of local government spending, some localities are making better choices than others. New Yorkers deserve to know how their town, city, village or county stacks up, and with Benchmarking New York, they can find out.”
The pension plan covering most New York City government agencies, including the City’s subway system, had 70 members with pension payments of at least $200,000 last year, almost quadrupling 2019’s tally of 19, according to new , the Read More
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)’s payroll surpassed $8 billion in 2024 – a 2.6 percent increase since 2023, according to , the Empire Center’s government transparency website.
Overtime, as measured using payroll records, totaled $ Read More
Spending by state lawmakers on office personnel and administrative costs varies widely, with some paying out nearly twice as much as others on their office operations, according to the most recent reported, posted to SeeThroughNY.net.
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New York’s two teacher pension systems last year had 26 retirees eligible to collect pensions of more than $300,000, according to , the Empire Center’s government transparency website.
Data reported from Teachers’ Retirement System of the City of Read More
School districts presenting budgets to voters on Tuesday, May 20, plan to spend an average of $35,012 per student, up 4.6 percent from the current school year, according to new state data.
Data collected by the state Education Departme Read More
The number of school district employees receiving a total compensation of more than $200,000 have more than doubled since 2019, according to posted today at , the Empire Center’s transparency website. The public educator pay data are based on Fiscal Ye Read More
A total of 186 out of 685 school districts outside New York City last year had a median classroom teacher pay over $100,000, according to , the Empire Center’s government transparency website, up from 159 five years earlier.
All eight Rockland Coun Read More
New York school districts holding budget referendums next week plan to spend an average of $31,929 per student, according to a new analysis from the Empire Center. Read More