High-income New Yorkers are probably the least stable, consistent and reliable segment of the city's income tax base. According to state tax data, there were 49,000 city households with adjusted gross income of more than $500,000 as of 2007. They earned $135 billion that year. Read More
There are budget tricks, and there are budget tricks. Some governors go to enormous lengths and expense to improve the way their finances look. They sell highways or government buildings, delay worker paychecks or tax refunds, or concoct new and costly ways to borrow money. Read More
What teachers in New York state make the most money? The Scarsdale School District in Westchester County pays a median salary of $137,017, according to state Education Department data for the 2012-13 school year. Read More
From 2008-09 to 2012-13, the statewide median teacher salary rose by 10 percent -- and the median for downstate suburban districts increased almost twice as much. Read More
Statewide median teacher salaries in the region increased by more than 10 percent from 2008-09 to 2012-13, according to a report released by the conservative think-tank Empire Center for Public Policy. Meanwhile, the report released Monday notes that while student enrollment, especially in upstate schools, have largely decreased, staff reductions haven’t kept up with the rate at which students have left. According to the study, more than 76,000 students have left New York state schools from 2008-09, while districts have cut 25,350 positions. Read More
Statewide, median teacher salary increased by about 10 percent between the fiscal years 2008-2009 and 2012-2013, according to a new report from the Empire Center for Public Policy, a fiscally conservative government finance watchdog. Read More
For upstate homeowners, the centerpiece of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposed $2.2 billion tax-cut plan is a two-year "freeze" on the growth of New York's smothering property taxes. An analysis of tax rates in two local municipalities — one urban, one suburban — reveals that Capital Region homeowners' rebates could be significantly more modest than advertised. Read More
The Empire Center for Public Policy, a fiscally conservative group, released a report Monday, meanwhile, that points to decreasing enrollment, increasing teacher salaries and high levels of staffing as factors in the continuing rise in school spending. Teachers in the Schenectady City School District earned a median salary of $59,651 in 2012-13, compared to $51,300 five years ago, according to the report. Read More