On Aug. 3, the state Senate passed a bill containing nearly $800 million in tax hikes and other provisions that represent the final piece of the budget for the fiscal year that began April. Read More
Research
To the public demanding to know why the school superintendent is leaving early and four other administrators have been fired, suspended or transferred, the Jordan-Elbridge school board replies: None of your business. Read More
Faced with a potential 26 percent hike in its tax levy, the Town of Woodstock is weighing a plan to require some retired employees to pick up a bigger share of their health insurance. Promise now, pay later. That's the approach local governments, school districts and the State of New York itself have taken... Read More
Harrison town officials are pirouetting after a police officer asked the town to pay $2,845 for him to take a dance course at a private college. It appears that the police union contract--previously approved by town officials--requires the town... Read More
Three Nassau County police officers just retired with severance packages exceeding $632,000--each. In New Jersey where the New Brunswick police chief accumulated $376,234 in unused sick time, the Legislature is considering $15,000 cap. As the Trenton Times writes... Read More
From the end of 2007 through 2009, more than eight million jobs were lost. The national unemployment rate rose to more than 10 percent for the first time in nearly 30 years. Read More
At today's Bloomberg LINK Cities & Debt Briefing in TriBeCa, Arizona Treasurer Dean Martin moments ago offered a different perspective on why public-pension funds should perhaps ease up on trying to achieve 7-8 percent annual returns. Leaving aside the drier academic argument over whether 7-8 annual return targets are unrealistic... Read More
Yesterday, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell threw the debt-laden capital city of Harrisburg a lifeline -- but the lifeline is made of razor wire. To help Harrisburg avoid a default on a general-obligation debt payment this week, Rendell will advance... Read More
At least 27,000 individuals, including ex-spouses of government workers, carried NYSHIP cards in their wallets--although they did not qualify for taxpayer-financed health insurance. That number will grow this fall if government employees fail to verify... Read More
New York's state highway system continues to rank near the bottom among all states in terms of performance and cost-effectiveness, as measured by the indicators in the Reason Foundation's 19th Annual Highway Condition Report. Here's a chart of my own... Read More
This has been a lost decade for employment in New York State, where the total number of payroll jobs is now below the 2000 level. Read More
Three employees of the Hudson River-Black River Regulating District were laid off in May, only to be rehired in June, so they could take advantage of the state's early retirement program. In addition, the district's board offered retirement incentives to... Read More