Major residential, commercial and industrial developments throughout the country are subject to an array of federal and state laws designed to protect the environment, buttressed nearly everywhere by local land-use regulations addressing the community impacts of such projects. Read More
A report issued last week by one of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's two tax commissions has rekindled debate regarding taxes in the Empire State. Former Gov. George Pataki and former state Comptroller Carl McCall headed the commission. E. J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center for Public Policy, praised the report's recommendation the state cut the top estate-tax rate and raise the taxable estate threshold to federal levels. "The Empire State would remain one of a very few jurisdictions still imposing any death tax, but it would at least take a smaller bite out of fewer estates," he said in comments published in the New York Post. Read More
Major residential, commercial and industrial developments throughout the country are subject to an array of federal and state laws designed to protect the environment. They're buttressed nearly everywhere by local land-use regulations addressing the community impacts of such projects. In New York, these regulations are wrapped in the added red tape of the State Environmental Quality Review Act. Read More
Major residential, commercial and industrial developments throughout the country are subject to an array of federal and state laws designed to protect the environment. They're buttressed nearly everywhere by local land-use regulations addressing the community impacts of such projects. Read More
Gov. Cuomo has OK’d a bill allowing suburban Rockland County to issue bonds to cover a portion of its huge budget deficit — without the customary mandate for a state takeover of the troubled county’s finances. In letting Rockland buy time with borrowed money, the governor is all but inviting New York’s other troubled counties and municipalities to push for similar treatment. Read More
This forum focused on why long-term financial planning is essential for local governments and school districts, and how such plans can and should be implemented for counties, municipalities and school districts. Read More
Mayor Dayton King recently said he plans to propose a 2 percent property tax reduction when he presents the Common Council with his proposed 2014 city budget. The tax relief is long overdue. Read More
The Great Recession and its aftermath have brought obvious, ongoing strains to finances at every level of government. What we have been experiencing for the past five years is something new and unprecedented in the post-World War II era: a prolonged period of slow growth with pronounced disinflationary tendencies. Read More