Cuomo’s record can’t be reduced to tax, spend, and tax some more. In fact, even as he was gaining national acclaim among Democrats for his attacks on the fiscal policies of President Ronald Reagan, Cuomo also approved personal income tax cuts that were downright Reaganesque. Read More
Conservative groups said the increase in those making $1 million or more a year in New York doesn't tell the full picture. New York had the slowest growth in the country in millionaires between 2011 and 2012, said E.J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center for State Policy. Read More
New York continued to impose one of nation's highest state and local tax burdens relative to income during fiscal 2012, according to data released today by the US Census Bureau. Read More
Republicans in the state Senate are claiming that the new federal immigration order could end up costing New York as much as $2 billion in Medicaid costs. Read More
Four years ago, as Andrew Cuomo prepared to begin his first term as governor, the biggest problem facing New York state was how to close a $10 billion budget gap. This year, gearing up for his second term, Cuomo faces quite a different challenge: what to do with roughly $5 billion in extra cash. Read More
Albany and Binghamton topped the list for property taxes in the 2014 update of Benchmarking New York, the Empire Center web tool that connects users with tax, spending and debt data from local governments outside New York City. Read More
EJ McMahon, with the Empire Center, likens the windfall to choices a household might have to make, when it suddenly gets a small unexpected inheritance of $3000. So, he says, everybody gets excited, with one family member wanting a kitchen rehab with granite counter tops, another wanting premium cable with more sports channels. Read More
New York State residents pay some of the highest local taxes in the nation. Until now, however, New Yorkers have had no easy way to compare basic fiscal measures for the local governments that account for a large share of the taxes they pay. Read More