The Empire Center for Public Policy today released the 2014 edition of “What They Make,” an overview of local government payrolls for the counties, towns, cities and villages (outside New York City) for the period of April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014. Read More
Local government is a labor-intensive business, and employee compensation is the single biggest element of most municipal budgets. The 2013-14 edition of What They Make, the Empire Center's annual report on public payrolls, allows New York taxpayers to compare this key element of local government costs around the state... Read More
After seven months of foot-dragging, New York's economic development agency finally got around to answering the Empire Center's request for details of state spending on an advertising campaign promoting the Start-Up NY tax-free zone program. The total price tag for the campaign over the past year has been nearly $35 million, most of it spent on TV commercials outside and inside New York State, according to the summary we received. Read More
One in seven of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's 71,837 employees took home more than $100,000 last year, according to the Empire Center. "A lot of people make a lot of money at the MTA," said Tim Hoefer, executive director of the think tank that routinely posts public payroll records online. Read More
One out of every seven employees of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority made more than $100,000 in 2013, according to authority payroll records posted today at SeeThroughNY.net. Read More
The data comes after the state Court of Appeals ruled last week that pension systems in New York must release the names and details of its pensioners. The state Teachers’ Retirement System, as well as New York City pension funds, had refused to release the information because lower court rulings hadn’t required it to be made public. The lawsuit that led to the ruling was brought by the Empire Center for Public Policy. The think tank received the information this week and posted it on its website,www.SeeThroughNY.net. Read More
In the state's largest (but not only) public pension plan, the number of retirees with six-figure benefits has more than doubled in the past five years. Read More
One out of every six police officers and firefighters retiring from state and local agencies outside New York City last year qualified for annual pensions of $100,000, according to state pension fund data posted today at SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s government transparency website. Read More