Category: Media Coverage

According to the Albany-based nonprofit Empire Center for Public Policy, a fiscally conservative think tank, 54 percent of Westchester County teachers and administrators were paid more than $100,000 in 2015-16, compared to nearly 50 percent in Nassau County and slightly more than 45 percent in Suffolk. “School taxes make up the biggest part of our property-tax bills, and personnel costs make up the biggest part of our school budgets,” said Tim Hoefer, executive director of the Empire Center. “Taxpayers have a right to examine that spending and decide for themselves whether they’re getting their money’s worth.” Read More

America’s top 1% already pays 46% of the nation’s income taxes. Here in New York City, the top 1% — the 37,000 or so households that earn upwards of $700,000 — paid 49% of all city taxes in 2014, according to Crain’s New York. In fact, a report by the Empire Center released Monday revealed that from 2010-2015, New York City saw its population of millionaires grow at a slower rate than the nation as a whole. That’s worrisome. Read More

E.J. McMahon, the founder of the Empire Center for Public Policy, a fiscally conservative watchdog group, is not convinced. Mr. McMahon cited several other state-backed museum-style projects over the years which had raised eyebrows, like the National Hall of Fame of Soccer in Oneonta, which closed in 2010, and the Museum of Cheese in Rome, N.Y., which seems to have stopped fermenting several years ago. (Not to despair, cheese fans: The Cuba Cheese Museum in Cuba, N.Y., appears to still be in business.) “There’s all sorts of studies showing that they are not moneymakers and do not return the government investment,” Mr. McMahon said, likening such outlays of state funds to cities building stadiums or convention centers. He conceded that the comedy center would likely “look nice, and have a gala opening,” complete with celebrities and the governor. “But it’s still unlikely to be something that turns around Jamestown,” he added. Read More

Wonder why New York property taxes are sky-high, particularly in the Long Island and Lower Hudson Valley suburbs around the city? The Empire Center’s latest analysis flags one key reason: the astounding pay doled out to government workers in those areas — especially uniformed services, like police and firefighters. Read More

Knocking over banks is for amateurs. Local cops in towns and counties around New York state are robbing taxpayers blind with astronomical yearly salaries — including one officer who pulled down $442,000, a new report shows. Tom Donnelly, who retired as a Ramapo school safety officer in August, earned the investment-banker-sized paycheck over a 12-month period ending in March — making him the highest paid local cop anywhere outside New York City, according to a report from the Empire Center. Read More

E.J. McMahon, research director for the Empire Center, a fiscally conservative think tank, said the report "highlighted the ongoing weakness of the upstate economy." The Southern Tier, he said, was "notably weak." Read More

There are lots of reasons that manufacturers might hesitate before leaving their home state for New York. For one thing, income taxes can be twice as high in New York compared to Arizona, with top rates at 8.82 percent compared to 4.54 percent. “It’s not just taxes,” E.J. McMahon of the fiscally conservative Empire Center think tank. New York “can be seen as a tough place to do business.”  Read More

What keeps education spending so high and is New York getting a good return on investment? Read More