Governor Andrew Cuomo has pulled the teeth out of his original proposal to reform the binding arbitration law for police and fire contract disputes, squandering an opportunity to deliver on a key mandate relief priority for many municipalities. Read More
New York residents will pay almost $90 billion in added taxes over the next two years if the federal government plunges over its fiscal “cliff” with no changes to current law, according to a timely report issued last week by Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. The scheduled tax changes outweigh the impact of scheduled “sequestration” cuts to federal spending, which would cost the state and local governments $5 billion over the next nine years, including a $600 million hit to the state budget in fiscal 2013. Read More
The inevitable is now official: Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver today said Governor Cuomo should “work out” his proposed Tier 6 pension reform with public-sector labor unions. As the governor himself pointed out just last week, the Legislature effectively prefers to give unions a “veto” over any change–which, if it sticks, means there will no meaningful change at all. Read More
New York State, its local governments and its public authorities have promised their employees well over $200 billion in future retiree health benefits that no money is set aside to pay for, as we documented in our “Iceberg Ahead” report in late 2010. This unfunded liability translates into an enormous and growing debt that current and past generations of taxpayers have pushed onto future generations. Read More
Governor Cuomo’s proposed state budget for fiscal 2014 envisions a relatively strong 6.6 percent ($2.6 billion) increase in net personal income tax (PIT) receipts for the year starting April 1, even though the tax so far has under-performed the original budget projections for fiscal 2013. The highest-earning one percent of New York taxpayers is expected to generate 41 percent of net receipts, according to the Economic and Revenue Outlook volume of the budget Read More
The (apparently) agreed-upon version of Governor Cuomo’s “Tax Free NY” proposal includes a new name for the thing: “SUNY Tax-free Areas toRevitalize and Transform UPstate New York,” or START-UP NY. Read More
In an effort to slash its liabilities, Stockton is notifying its employees that their retiree health insurance coverage is about to be cancelled. And, Nicole says, this is no coincidence Read More
Governor Andrew Cuomo has approved a $96 million deficit bonding bailout for Rockland County — with no strings attached, other than once-a-year review of the county executive’s budget proposal by the state comptroller. The bill sets a terrible precedent, signaling distressed municipalities across New York that they, too, might be able to buy time with borrowed money. Read More