Local government is a labor-intensive business, and employee compensation is the single biggest element of most municipal budgets. The 2014-15 edition of What They Make, the Empire Center’s annual report on public payrolls, allows New York taxpayers to compare this key element of local government costs around the state. Read More
There is plenty of room for improvement across Upstate New York when it comes to the online services local governments provide. When the Empire Center for Public Policy issued its SeeThroughNY Local Government Website Report Card a year ago, Utica, Syracuse, Albany and Buffalo all received Fs, while Rochester fared only slightly better with a D. Read More
Long Island town officials are crying the blues over the budgetary squeeze supposedly created by the state’s property-tax cap. They’re not alone: You’ll hear much the same from town pols elsewhere in the metro region and across New York state. But the thrust of their complaints — that the tax cap is somehow blocking urgent public projects and programs — just won’t hold water. Read More
A longtime Saratoga County assistant district attorney who became a central figure in the corruption case against former Halfmoon Supervisor Melinda Wormuth on Tuesday night became the "full-time" town attorney, a job that will pay her $150,000 year. Read More
ALBANY – New York's tax cap limits the growth in property taxes to 2 percent a year or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. So next year, because of low inflation, the tax cap could be Read More
Don't look now, but given current inflation trends, next year's school property tax cap may be ... zero! That's the message of a statement released last week by the Educational Conference Board (ECB), a coalition of groups representing public school administrators, school boards and—last but hardly least—the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) labor union. The ECB's "warning" was meant as an inside-the-Albany-bubble scare tactic, but for most New Yorkers, it's good news: further confirmation that the tax cap is working exactly as intended. Read More
Call him the million-dollar cop. Old Westbury Police Chief Daniel E. Duggan retired last year after 40 years on the force with a salary and severance package totaling more than $1 million, according to village records. Read More
The state's property-tax cap has saved New York homeowners as much as $7.6 billion in school taxes since it was enacted in 2011, a report Tuesday contended. Read More