Research

Reports View All

Reports

Benchmarking New York

New York State residents pay some of the highest local taxes in the nation. To help New Yorkers compare some of the basic fiscal measures for local governments, the Empire Center for Public Policy continues to calculate effective property tax rates and per-capita values for the spending, debt and tax levels of counties, cities, towns, villages and school districts throughout the state, excluding only New York City.

Reports

Excelsior Illusion

NY's Excelsior Scholarship program is regressive and wasteful

Issue Areas View All

Economy
Education
Energy
Government Reform
Healthcare
Other Topics of Interest
Property Taxes
Public Pensions
Taxes and Spending
Transportation

Empire IdeasView All

Empire Ideas is a series of policy papers focusing on topics of concern to local governments. Our goal in this project is to help elected officials, local taxpayer groups, community associations and concerned taxpayers explore ways of improving the quality and cost-effectiveness of local government.

Data View All

Empire Center's Data section now includes over 50 different data sets in seven categories that measure and rank New York's state and local taxes, spending, debt and economic competitiveness.