Governor George Pataki and Comptroller Alan Hevesi have agreed to make marginal changes in a proposed refinancing and restructuring of $2.9 billion in bonds to finance part of the state's five-year transportation capital plan. As we noted almost t Read More
Property taxes are unpopular with homeowners from coast to coast - and nowhere more so than in NewYork state, which is home to some of the highest property taxes in the nation. Relative to property values and incomes, the property tax burden might be heaviest of all in Central New York and other Upstate regions. Read More
Natural disasters and economic crises can often bring out the best in people. But they also have a way of bringing out the worst in politicians as typified by the way some New York state legislators have reacted to the latest series of increases gasoline prices. Read More
Some leading New York State lawmakers are obviously anxious to do something -- anything -- in response to the spike in gasoline prices. But sometimes the best response is no response, as the Empire Center's director explains in this op-ed article in today's New York Post. Read More
Unlike residents of 29 other states, New Yorkers don't have the opportunity to end-run their politicians through a statewide voter initiative or referendum process. As a result, we've never been able to mount the kind of up-from-the-grassroots taxpayer revolt that's shaken some other state governments to their foundations. Read More
One of the more striking aspects of this year's mayoral campaign has been the lack of any substantial debate on New York City's tax policy. To be sure, Fernando Ferrer has done his share of carping about Michael Bloomberg's tax hikes. Read More
The last four years have seen a remarkable turnabout in tax policy of New York City. Considerable progress was made in reducing tax rates and the overall tax burden under former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, from 1994 through 2001. But since 2002, the city under Mayor Bloomberg has raised taxes by up to $3 billion, two-thirds of which consisted of a record property tax hike. Read More
Reinforcing New York City’s improved policing strategies in the 1990s were tougher sentencing laws and a significant expansion of the city and state correctional systems. Would-be criminals in the Big Apple came to realize that they were not only more likely to get caught, but more likely to end up serving hard time. Read More