A total of 400 local government employees in New York outside New York City were paid more than $300,000 during fiscal year 2025-26, the large majority of them police officers on Long Island, according to payroll data submitted by local government Read More
Albany steered $97.2 million to 206 local projects during the first half of 2026 in the newest batch of state discretionary grants, according to. The new tranche is the latest addition to the pork-barrel grant database the Empire Cen Read More
Soon after Governor Hochul floated the idea of a "pied-à-terre" tax in New York City, Albany Sen. Patricia Fahy proposed to expand the concept to the rest of the state. As w Read More
School districts presenting budgets to voters on Tuesday, May 20, plan to spend an average of $35,012 per student, up 4.6 percent from the current school year, according to new state data. Data collected by the state Education Dep Read More
A total of 186 out of 685 school districts outside New York City last year had a median classroom teacher pay over $100,000, according to , the Empire Center’s government transparency website, up from 159 five years earlier. All eight Rockland Read More
New York’s property tax rates are generally among the highest in the nation. Specific property tax burdens vary widely throughout the state. Read More
To help New Yorkers compare certain basic fiscal measures for local governments, the Empire Center has calculated effective property tax rates and per-capita values for the spending, debt and tax levels throughout the state. Read More
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who hasn’t proven shy about issuing orders, had one for the state’s Republicans this week Read More