A 2016 expiration date was, indeed, added to the agreed-upon property tax cap provisions of the monster omnibus bill now being cooked up in the Legislature. However, based on information provided in the past hour by the governor's office and the Se Read More
This quotes Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver as saying the agreed-upon property tax cap will expire in five years. If that's true, the cap is not worth the paper it's written on--since, as explained and , one house of the Legislature will be able Read More
The Beekmantown Central School District made when preparing its voting machines prior to their school budget vote back in May. At least one of the three machines understated -- by $2 million -- the cost of the proposed budget (and a second proposi Read More
The Yonkers City School District will be allowed to bond out a portion of its rising pension contributions under a bill that seems greased for end-of-session passage by the Legislature. Sponsored by Sen. Jeff Klein and Assemblyman Michael Spano, t Read More
The end-of-session sausage-making machine is moving into high gear in Albany, where the state Senate's Republican majority has cooked up a of spicy meat and meat substitutes, including a property tax cap, New York City rent regulations, permanent lo Read More
"Wall Street plans to get smaller this summer," the New York Times today. "Faced with weak markets and uncertainty over regulations, many of the biggest firms are preparing for deep cuts in jobs and other costs." This would have signif Read More
Nicole Gelinas has a in the New York Post today skewering state Senate Republicans for passing a bill that would repeal the in the Metropolitan Transportation Region without offering a solid plan for closing the holes in the MTA operating a Read More
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and the chairman of the Municipal Labor Committee, an umbrella group of labor unions, have the idea of tapping a union-controlled health care slush fund to prevent 4,100 scheduled scheduled teacher layoffs and 20 Read More
Ending the moratorium on "hydrofracking" of natural gas in upstate New York would spur over $11.4 billion in economic output, create 15,000 to 18,000 jobs in the Western New York and the Southern Tier regions, and generate $1.4 billion in state and l Read More
CoreLogic released some data last week on the number of homeowners who are "underwater" on their mortgages; that is, they owe more than their homes are worth. The good news: New York has the lowest percentage nationwide of homeowners with Read More
New York City's pension actuary is "likely" to recommend a reduction in the interest rate used to calculate tax-funded pension contributions, the New York Post (not for the first time) yesterday. A lower interest rate will lead to higher pension c Read More
Governor Cuomo today that follows exactly -- which is a disappointment, if not exactly a surprise. Certainly if Cuomo's pension program ends here, it will undermine the governor's attempts to portray himself as a reformer. Read More