Police work, firefighting and health care are among the best-paying occupations in the public sector, according to a survey released on Thursday. Downstate police and firefighter salaries top the municipal list, with many well into the six figures, according to the fifth annual look at local government salaries by Empire Center for Public Policy, an independent non-profit think tank based in Albany. Read More
By a variety of measures, New York is easily the nation's most heavily taxed big city. In devising a strategy for competing economically on both a global and regional basis, New York’s next mayor needs to recognize that the city can’t tax with impunity... Read More
The only school district in Western New York to be operating on a contingency budget for the upcoming school year granted its superintendent a pay raise and new benefits... Read More
E.J. McMahon surveys New York city’s tax burden, which has increased mightily under Mayor Bloomberg... Read More
Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned last week that if New York City fails to control unsustainable employee compensation costs, it could find itself trapped in the same "downward cycle" as bankrupt Detroit... Read More
Local governments had hoped for an overhaul this year to the controversial binding arbitration process, including a 2 percent cap in the awards. But what they got were small changes in the 39-year-old system for resolving disputes in local police and firefighter contract negotiations. Read More
Sometime before midnight Wednesday, without fanfare or ceremony, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed measures that extended or increased local sales tax levies in nearly two dozen counties around the state. Read More
A new program to extend tax-free benefits to certain businesses caused the state to downgrade its revenue projections by $323 million through March 2017, according to new estimates from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s budget office. The program, known as START-UP NY, allows businesses to avoid paying taxes for up to 10 years if they create jobs and locate near participating college campuses. Read More