Public subsidies of sports arenas, stadiums and ballparks “cannot be justified on the grounds of local economic development, income growth or job creation, those arguments most frequently used by subsidy advocates.” Read More
Tag: Local Government
The Tier 6 pension “reform” enacted by New York last year applies to all state and local employees who join the state Employee Retirement System or the Police and Fire Retirement System after April 1, 2012 Read More
A sweeping but little-noticed provision in Governor Cuomo’s 2013-14 Executive Budget would, in the words of this Article VII bill memo, “eliminate all local government and school district reporting requirements to state agencies unless the Mandate Relief Council votes to continue them.” Read More
“This so-called tax freeze bill is simply an election-year gimmick,” said E.J. McMahon of the Empire Center for Public Policy, a fiscally conservative think tank. Read More
McMahon pointed out that the number of local governments a county has doesn't matter. "It's the cost of the government services that drive up taxes," he said. "If you get rid of these special districts, you would still have to supply the services." Read More
Critics have challenged Cuomo’s math. U.S. Census data shows that New York has about 3,450 local governments, and Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli puts the total at about 3,800. Cuomo is including thousands of special taxing districts, such as ones for lighting and sewer services, that aren’t governments, critics said. Read More
While Cuomo speaks of 10,500 local governments, others say that is overstated. "He is greatly exaggerating," E.J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center think tank, said of the number, contending that many of those are on paper or so small that they pose negligible costs. Read More
Cities and taxpayers have to decide what’s the best way to utilize tax dollars, said Tim Hoefer, executive director of the Empire Center. “I think generally speaking … in a perfect world, overtime is the result of extraordinary circumstances or poor management,” he said. “It’s about right-sizing government.” Read More