With Amazon reportedly poised to announce it will locate one of its two new headquarters in New York City, some experts are wondering why the state seems prepared to heavily subsidize that decision when its fellow tech behemoths have come to the city without similarly lucrative enticements.

Google on Wednesday told the Wall Street Journal it has taken no state subsidies to aid its rapid growth in New York City. Facebook on Thursday told POLITICO the same.

The governor is fond of using state subsidies to incentivize job growth, even if his record at achieving that growth is spotty. Under his leadership, the state dropped $750 million on a solar factory in Buffalo that has yet to produce the number of jobs he initially promised. His effort to incentivize economic development by legalizing casino gambling has produced underwhelming results, too.

"The track record on some of these other mega-deals is not great and it doesn't inspire a lot of confidence," said Citizens Budget Commission vice president Maria Doulis.

In a report released earlier this week, Fitch Ratings argued that winning one of Amazon's two new headquarters "would have at most a muted impact on the economies" of New York City and Arlington County in Northern Virginia.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo joked that he’s willing to change his name to “Amazon Cuomo,” to bring the online retail giant’s second headquarters to New York. But that’s not the full extent of what he’s willing to do: he also offered an unknown package of subsidies, which budget watchdogs consider no laughing matter.

Critics say it is inappropriate for government officials to offer tax breaks that the taxpayer doesn’t know about. “None of it has been made public,” said Riley Edwards, a research associate at the Citizens Budget Commission. “The argument is that this is better for competitiveness, that the other places that are bidding to have this headquarters don't know what they're up against. But it really does the public a disservice to not have that information.”

From the depths of winter and through a long and lonely summer and fall, Marcus Molinaro has been walking a tight-rope. The Dutchess County executive has tried to distinguish himself from President Trump without alienating the conservatives whose votes he needs if he’s going to make a respectable showing on Tuesday against Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

In his most recent annual address, delivered early in 2018, Cuomo pointed to his economic record with pride – noting that “every New Yorker’s tax rate is lower today than when I took office” and that the state has its “highest credit rating in 40 years.” Others also praise his overall record: In its endorsement of the governor for re-election, the New York Times said that his accomplishments include “increasing the minimum wage, implementing paid family leave and setting to work rebuilding some of New York City’s most essential infrastructure.”

In a recent report, the Citizens Budget Commission, a fiscally conservative think tank, said that under Cuomo state operational spending grew “at an average pace of 2.8 percent annually, since fiscal year 2011.”

“State leaders met their goal to keep SOS below 2 percent in the early years of the Cuomo administration; however, in the last two years, spending restraint has loosened,” the report read. “Overall, state growth in spending is in line with other states, if not slightly lower.”

Performance management is a global trend, as well as the inclusion of citizen feedback as a component of these systems. What are the commonalities and contrasts in two cities of the same size but with very different forms of government? The post is broken into two parts – this one focuses on New York City’s approach. The second will focus on the Chinese city of Hangzhou.

How Does the City Collect Citizen Feedback? There is no systematic citizen satisfaction survey for the city or its services. There are some neighborhood level and program-specific surveys conducted by city agencies or for specific initiatives, but not on a regular basis. For example, the Vision Zero initiative (traffic safety) created an on-line map where citizens could mark specific intersections that they saw as dangerous, and why. There were also extensive outreach efforts and neighborhood level meetings to obtain input. As a result, public feedback led to the installation of new stop signs, lights, and street reconfigurations.

A city-wide resident survey was last conducted in 2008 by the city government and has not been repeated. However, a non-profit group, the Citizens Budget Commission, independently repeated the survey in 2017, sending surveys to 72,000 households. This produced community level data that was statistically valid even though it had only a 13 percent response rate. The survey asked questions about quality of life as well as satisfaction with city services by different agencies. It also allowed open-ended questions about agencies and improvements that could be made, which produced 20,000 written responses. According to Maria Doulis, vice president of the Commission, the City government expressed interest in the survey results but has not committed to conducting services regularly.

Just in time for Halloween and Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), municipal finance watchdog, Truth in Accounting (TIA) published its financial analysis on the United States’ top three most populated cities--New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Unfortunately, the fiscal condition of these cities is scarier than any costume you have seen this week.

A significant problem, according to TIA’s analysis of New York City, is that the city is not being as transparent as it should be. The annual report stated that New York City is “hiding $312.3 million of pension debt from its balance sheet.’ Moreover, New York City's reported net position is understated by $10.3 billion, primarily because the city defers recognizing gains resulting from changes in Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) plan assumptions.

Also, this week the nonpartisan, not-for-profit, civic organization Citizens Budget Commission (CBC) released its report focusing on New York City’s growing long-term liabilities which it calculated at $257 billion. The liabilities are for bonded debt, pensions and OPEB. CBC also pointed out that “In the aggregate the City’s pension funds are now 75.9 percent funded.”

In just five days New Yorkers will head to the polls. Today, we broke down the financial proposals of the gubernatorial candidates with E.J. McMahon, Founder and Research Director of the Empire Center for Public Policy; Ron Deutsch, Executive Director of the Fiscal Policy Institute; and Dave Friedfel, Director of State Studies at the Citizens Budget Commission.

The unemployment rate has plummeted since Cuomo took office — dropping from 8.9 percent in January 2011 to 4 percent last September, its lowest level on record since the state has been keeping records in 1976.

But the rate is still slightly above the national average, and the recovery from the recession has been uneven in New York.

"In downstate labor markets, the unemployment rate dropped even while the labor force was expanding, thanks to an increase in resident employment," the Empire Center for New York State Policy, a fiscally conservative group, said in a report last month.

"Upstate, the unemployment rate has dropped because there are fewer people looking for work, not because more are working. In fact, resident employment upstate is lower than it was when Cuomo took office."

The state's population growth has also lagged the nation's.

New York's population grew from 19.4 million to 19.9 million from 2010 through 2017, up 2.3 percent or half the national rate, according to the Citizens Budget Commission, a business-backed group.

And New York has lost more residents to other states than anywhere in the country.

Addressing problems in the state’s economy is no easy task, according to David Friedfel, director of state studies for the Citizens Budget Commission.

But he said Cuomo in a third term, if re-elected, should reform the state's economic development programs, including increased disclosure on where the money is spent and what New Yorkers are getting in return.

“Once you have better disclosure and better data on economic development spending, it makes it easier to analyze what the actual return is on those investments and make it so that they can be directed towards more fruitful programs,” Friedfel said.

New York City faces future health costs for its retired workers of $103.2 billion, an increase of $40 billion over a decade. It has about $5 billion set aside to pay the bill.

The so-called "other post-employment benefits" liability was disclosed in New York’s comprehensive annual financial report released by the city comptroller’s office Wednesday. The city’s $98 billion unfunded liability for retiree health care exceeds the city’s $93 billion of bond debt and $48 billion pension-fund shortfall.

“The numbers are huge," said Maria Doulis, a vice president at the Citizens Budget Commission, a budget watchdog group funded by the business community. “If you’re looking at the big three liabilities, this is the one that’s problematic, because there’s nothing set aside to address this and there’s absolutely no strategy on the part of the city."

The Citizens Budget Commission, a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to keeping its eyes on local budgets, will bring on former health executive Andrew Rein as its next president in January—a homecoming for the veteran administrator, who began his career with the group 25 years ago.

Rein will replace Carol Kellermann, who announced her plans to leave the organization this past April. "It's a return to my roots," Rein told Crain's.

Rein began his own consulting firm, Transformation Strategies, in 2016 after serving in senior vice president roles for nonprofit health insurer EmblemHealth and the then-NYU Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn.

He has also worked in several public health roles. He spent four years as associate director of policy at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and more than seven years at the city Health Department, serving as executive deputy commissioner and then as chief operating officer. Earlier in his career, he worked in the city Education Department and the Independent Budget Office.

Andrew Rein has been chosen to be the next president of New York's Citizens Budget Commission.

Rein will replace current president Carol Kellermann, the CBC said Wednesday. Kellerman announced in April that she would step down after 10 years of service. She will work with Rein and the CBC staff to ensure a successful transition over the next few months. Rein will officially takeover as president in January 2019

Rein has spent the past 25 years working in public finance and service delivery, both in and outside of government. Most recently, he served as a principal at Transformation Strategies, a Maryland-based consulting firm.

Rein has consulted with CBC on various projects, including overseeing CBC's recent special committee on federal tax reform, which analyzed the impact of the new tax law on New York State.

"Having cut my research, policy, and communications teeth at CBC early in my career, I am energized to return to my roots as the organization's next president," said Rein. "I look forward to working more closely with the incredibly talented team at CBC to creatively enhance its core activities and improve and deepen its impact."

As previously announced, Walter Harris will succeed Edward Skyler as Chair of CBC in January as well.

"We are thrilled to have Andrew join us as the next president of CBC," said Skyler. "His background as a public policy expert, experience in managing government operations on local and federal levels and his deep knowledge of the economic and fiscal environment facing New York make him the ideal person to take CBC forward. He will play an integral role in our mission to hold New York City and State government officials accountable for spending taxpayers' dollars wisely and effectively."

Rein has held numerous positions inside and outside government including Senior Vice President at EmblemHealth and NYU Lutheran, Associate Director for Policy at the Centers for Disease Control, and Chief Operating Officer/Executive Deputy Commissioner at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

He also served as Senior Policy Advisor to the NYC Schools Chancellor and Associate Director of the NYC Independent Budget Office. He began his professional career as Associate Research Director at CBC where he served from 1993-99 and has resumed playing an active role in CBC research and policy development as a consultant over the last two years.

Rein holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Tufts University and a Master's in Public Policy from the Milano School at the New School.

"Andrew's work at so many different levels of government and in a variety of areas, from finance, to health care, to education gives him an extraordinary breadth of experience that will serve CBC well," said CBC President Carol Kellermann. "I look forward to passing the baton and know he will bring his fresh perspective and energy to the job."

The CBC will recognize the contributions that Kellerman has made over the past 10 years at its annual dinner on Feb. 28. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will be honored with the CBC Medal for High Civic Service. Business and philanthropic leader Stanley Shuman will receive the Felix Rohatyn Award.

Established last May by Mayor Bill de Blasio, the New York City Advisory Commission on Property Tax Reform has now conducted seven meetings, including public hearings in all five boroughs. A public hearing was held in Queens on October 3 in Jamaica.

The seven-person Commission is charged with the task of evaluating all aspects of the current property tax system in the city and making recommendations for reforms to make it simpler and more transparent amid allegations that the current property tax system is unfair.

A previous tax commission issued a report in 1989 and The Citizens Budget Commission published a report 27 years ago in November 1991, entitled, “When the Freeze Thaws: Options for Property Tax Reform,” referring to a freeze implemented on average property tax rates by then-Mayor David Dinkins. Another report on property taxes was issued near the end of Dinkins’ administration, but was not implemented by incoming Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, although Giuliani did implement a condo and co-op tax abatement during his own term.

The average salary for the 297,000 full-time active employees on New York City's payroll in fiscal year 2018 was $80,978, according to a report from the nonpartisan Citizens Budget Commission.

Total salaries are comprised of base salary, overtime, and other pay, which includes payments for longevity, differentials for night work, specific assignments and holiday pay, CBC said.

The city's uniformed workforce earn an average annual salary of $107,000, civilian employees earn an average of $70,726; while teachers earn an average salary of $76,114.

The CBC pointed out that higher earnings for uniformed employees are driven mostly by overtime and "other pay."
"Uniformed employees earn on average between $15,000 and $23,000 per year in overtime; however, in several agencies, including the Departments of Transportation, Correction, Citywide Administrative Services, and Fire, overtime for civilians exceeds $10,000 per year on average," the CBC said.