Back in 2011, when the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was trying to justify the schedule of hefty annual toll increases it was seeking, the authority claimed initially that the additional revenue the increases would bring was needed to pay for the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site and other important capital projects. The increases were approved by the governors of New York and New Jersey largely on that basis. Read More
Schenectady residents, you’re not imagining it. Your taxes really are high. Read More
Adjournments and stipulations churned mechanically as acting Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Peter Sweeney plowed through his 87-case calendar Monday — until a preposterous lawsuit caught his attention. Read More
Everyone knows the Port Authority is a mammoth, money-sucking agency. But a new listing of some PA salaries gives a taste of where that money goes. As The Empire Center reports, 10 members of the PA Police Department got paid more than $300,000 last year. Top earner Lt. Nicholas Yum took in $402,812. Twelve PA cops pulled in more than the $289,667 salary of PA Executive Director Pat Foye. Read More
It should come as no surprise that New Yorkers pay some of the highest property taxes in the country. But a report released this week underscores that in this highly taxed state, homeowners in Western New York carry the heaviest burden. “You have a combination of relatively expensive government and relatively low real estate values, and what you get is a high effective tax rate,” said E.J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center for Public Policy, which released the latest numbers in its annual Benchmarking NY study. Read More
The average tax rate across the Capital Region is lower than average, but a few municipalities stray from the average rate of $24.68 per $1,000 of a property’s assessed values. Schenectady has the highest effective tax rate in 2013, $43.58, according to a recently released report by the Empire Center for Public Policy, an independent research organization in Albany. A home valued at $160,250 would have paid $6,984 in taxes. Read More
Orleans County continues to be among the highest taxed counties in New York, with Medina leading the way with a combined tax rate of more than triple that of some other Finger Lakes-region counties. Read More
Bill Samuels, founder of the liberal policy group EffectiveNY, called on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to champion a property tax relief proposal floated by Mario Cuomo, the executive’s late father. Read More