In 1950, the four highest paid city of Utica employees made $9,000 each. That’s the equivalent of $87,340 in 2013. Today, the city’s highest paid employee is police Chief Mark Williams, who earned $130,145 in 2012-13... Read More
Category: Media Coverage
Despite retirements and layoffs, the number of teachers and administrators earning more than $100,000 a year climbed 40 percent over the past five years, state records show... Read More
The Empire Center for Public Policy, which started in 2005 as a project of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, has relaunched as an independent, nonprofit think tank, E.J. McMahon, the center’s president, announced Friday... Read More
If Bill de Blasio becomes New York City's first Democratic mayor in 20 years, the liberal politician would soon find himself immersed in labor talks that could saddle the city with a $7 billion bill for retroactive wage increases for municipal workers... Read More
Although median household income and per capita income between Allegany, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties are similar, the pay of their elected officials is not. According to the Empire Center's 2012-13 edition of "What They Make," the center's annual report on public payrolls, the counties are ranked third, fifth and fourth respectively for western New York counties. The three come behind Erie and Niagara counties. Read More
The Bedford school district’s new three-year teachers contract, which the Board of Education is expected to approve Wednesday, does not do away with automatic salary increases after all, The Journal News has learned... Read More
Whatever the outcomes of Tuesday's primaries, most mayors who win a new term in cities across the state will face a similar big challenge - how to get their municipalities back on secure financial footing. The next political leaders of New York City, smaller cities upstate , and even large suburban counties like Nassau County, will all face a big test once they take office- how to solve mounting fiscal difficulties. EJ McMahon, with the Empire Center, a fiscally conservative think tank, says the recession, which began five years ago this week, has not caused the budget problems plaguing many of New York’s municipalities, but rather has worsened already existing structural weaknesses. Read More
Western New Yorkers don’t have to look far to find reasons to support an environmental upgrade plan such as the one proposed last week by State Sen. Mark J. Grisanti, R-Buffalo. Read More