The Empire Center’s unique online “Explore Your State Budget” app has been updated to reflect data in the enacted fiscal 2018 budget.
The database of New York state budget information, which is accessible through the Center’s SeeThroughNY website, includes actual results, estimates and projections for major spending and tax categories from 2012 until fiscal 2021. In addition, the tool contains annual disbursements dating back to 1984 and tax receipts since 1976.
Historical spending and tax data are presented both in nominal and inflation-adjusted terms. In addition, data can be downloaded and saved in spreadsheet form. Here is a small sampling of important budget trends revealed by the Explore Your State Budget database:
State aid to public schools will rise by 5.8 percent, more than double the expected rate of inflation, going from $24.4 billion in fiscal 2017 to $25.8 billion in fiscal 2018.
The state’s debt service payments, fueled in part by the Legislature’s decision to borrow to pay for economic development and pork-barrel projects, are expected to climb from $5.3 billion in fiscal 2017 to $7.4 billion in fiscal 2021.
The state will collect $4.8 billion in taxes and fees on health care services and health insurance during fiscal 2018 following the renewal of Health Care Reform Act taxes that were enacted on a temporary basis in 1996.
The Empire Center, based in Albany, is an independent, non-partisan, not-for-profit think tank dedicated to promoting policies to make New York a better place to live, work and do business.
The data, covering all school districts outside NYC, show 75,280 school district employees were paid at least $100,000 last year, compared to 58,631 in 2017-18. Read More
Payroll data detailing $6 billion in annual pay for more than 86,000 public employees at 383 agencies including the Thruway Authority, New York City Health + Hospitals and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) were added today to SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s government transparency website. Read More
New York state lawmakers and Governor Hochul since January have steered nearly $200 million in borrowed state funds outside the regular budget process to hundreds of pet projects, according to new data posted on SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s government transparency website. Read More
The 10 highest-paid employees of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) last year were police officers who collected more than $370,000 each, according to data posted today on SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s government transparency website. Read More
New York’s plan to steer homeowners and landlords toward electric heat could backfire due to costs and practical concerns, according to a new study from the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More
School districts across the state last year used lower-turnout special elections to win voter approval for nearly $2 billion in construction projects and other major purchases instead of presenting them alongside their budget pr Read More
State regulators should drop plans to mandate a $10.18 "dispensing fee" for each prescription filled by a pharmacy, the Empire Center's Bill Hammond said in comments submitted Monday to the Department of Financial Services.
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