Faced with a potential 26 percent hike in its tax levy, the Town of Woodstock is weighing a plan to require some retired employees to pick up a bigger share of their health insurance. Promise now, pay later. That's the approach local governments, school districts and the State of New York itself have taken... Read More
To the public demanding to know why the school superintendent is leaving early and four other administrators have been fired, suspended or transferred, the Jordan-Elbridge school board replies: None of your business. Read More
When the city of Troy asked its Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) employees to consider forgoing a 3.5 percent raise this year, a CSEA spokesperson said, "...we do not renegotiate our contracts. It's a moot point," ... Read More
New York's public-sector employees have been promised $205 billion in post-retirement health benefits that the state and its local governments have set aside no money to pay for, a new Empire Center report found. Read More
Two cities in heavily taxed Niagara County have agreed to share the burden of providing water services. But the deal first needed to get around objections from a municipal labor union. Read More
On October 4, Governor Paterson signed S.7451/A.10764, a bill that allows home-based child care providers to unionize -- adding more than 65,000 child care providers to the already powerful Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) and the United Federation of Teachers (UFT). Paterson's signature codifies... Read More
Reimposing the full 14 percent surcharge on New York City’s resident income tax will cost New York’s battered economy 10,700 badly needed private sector jobs, according to the Manhattan Institute’s tax policy simulation model. As a result, our model indicates the revenue gain from a restored surcharge will be about $30 million less than has been projected. Read More
New York City’s post-9/11 fiscal problems are prompting fresh calls in some quarters for reinstating the city’s commuter tax, which could generate as much as $500 million, to help close a projected budget gap of at least $3.6 billion. But the usual arguments for the tax just don’t stand up to scrutiny. Read More