Public pension costs in New York are mushrooming—just when taxpayers can least afford it. Over the next five years, tax-funded annual contributions to the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System (NYSTRS) will more than quadruple, while contributions to the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS) will more than double, according to estimates presented in this report. Read More
In the wake of the nation’s worst economic downturn since the 1930s, New York State’s counties, municipalities and school districts face intense budgetary pressure. To bring spending into line with tightly constrained revenues, especially under a newly imposed property tax cap, local governments need more than ever to control rising employee salary and benefit costs. Read More
Local government is a labor-intensive business, and employee compensation is the single biggest element of most municipal budgets. The 2011-12 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
The price tag for the Legislature's promise of an early retirement incentive for teachers isn't publicly known, but a similar bill would cost school districts $200 million in added pension payments next year. Read More
A court decision upholding a three-year, 11.5 percent pay raise for New York City transit workers should make local governments elsewhere nervous. State Supreme Court Justice O. Peter Sherwood has upheld an arbitration panel award to the Transport Read More
Nearly 29,000 Syracuse-area residents have lost their jobs and the inflation rate is flat so you'd think that might give school board members pause. Yet, the 10 school districts in the area that settled contracts in the year or so si Read More
The Utica school board ratified a new teachers contract in September 2008--even though school business officials could not tell them how much it will cost future taxpayers. Now, the district says it has calculated the cost, but it refuses to make it Read More
Governor David Paterson wants state employees to defer four percent raises and five days of salary until they retire or quit their jobs. Haven't we seen this movie before? What makes Paterson think the outcome will be any different than when publi Read More