Local governments in New York had a nearly 9 percent increase in full and part-time employees in the past fiscal year, but the average salary dropped, a report Thursday found. The dichotomy suggested that local governments may be hiring workers, but they are being paid less, and government is relying more on part-time help, the report from the Empire Center for Public Policy found. Read More
County employees in Westchester earned an average of $80,322 a year in 2012-13, according to a report released by the Empire Center on Thursday. That was the highest paid county employee average in the state. Read More
City of Schenectady employees have the highest average pay of any city employees in the Capital Region for the last fiscal year, according to a report compiled by the non-partisan fiscal watchdog Empire Center. Read More
The city of Kingston had the lowest average pay for municipal employees at $42,103, according to a report released Thursday by the Empire Center. Read More
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
When Nassau Democratic lawmakers agreed with Republicans last month to borrow $40 million to pay long-overdue tax refunds, both sides declared a victory for bipartisanship. Though it drew little public attention, the county legislature's unanimous vote also included borrowing another $6 million for undefined capital projects and approval of specific improvements in Democratic districts. Read More
A billion dollars is big money in anyone’s book. Especially when those dollars come from you, the taxpayer. That’s how much money the US Railroad Retirement Board says might have been scammed by Long Island Rail Road retirees falsely claiming disability benefits. Read More
The New York Court of Appeals has accepted an appeal from the Empire Center after they were refused access to the names of retired teachers in public pension plans under the Freedom of Information Law. The lower courts agreed with the right of privacy of teacher names. Read More