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Blog
Capital Spending
New York City Capital Spending: A Retrospective
April 21, 2010
Analyzes the impact of capital investments under Mayor Bloomberg.
Blog
Pensions & Benefits
A More Flexible Pension Plan
January 25, 2012
Part of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s “Tier VI” proposal to make pension benefits for public employees of New York’s State and local government more affordable and sustainable over the long term is an optional 401(k)-style plan, already used widely in the private sector and becoming more common in the public sector.
Blog
Public Workforce
The Public and Private Sector Wage Disparity: An Update
May 24, 2010
The labor market case for more generous retirement benefits for public sector workers is no longer valid.
Report
State Budget
Giving and Getting
Regional Distribution of Revenue and Spending in New York State Budget
December 19, 2011
The report analyzes the regional distribution of revenues collected and dollars spent within the New York State budget by examining actual receipts and expenditures for the 2009-10 fiscal year. It finds that downstate gives more to the State in taxes and revenues than it gets back in expenditures for services and other assistance and that upstate gets more than it gives.
Blog
Pensions & Benefits
NY Retirement Systems: Still Out of Line
January 25, 2012
NY requires unusally low rates of employee contribution -- meaning taxpayers largely shoulder the cost of providing pensions, which has grown sharply over the last decade.
Report
Energy & Environment
Taxes In, Garbage Out
The Need for Better Solid Waste Disposal Policies in New York City
May 30, 2012
This report makes the case for a significant change in the New York City Department of Sanitation's solid waste disposal practices, a shift from heavy reliance on long-distance exporting to landfills to greater reliance on use of local waste-to-energy facilities.
Blog
Capital Spending
Mind the Gap
Funding Repair and Maintenance of New York City Infrastructure
July 26, 2010
Past neglect has created a need for nearly $5.6 billion in repair of existing facilities in New York City in order to bring them to satisfactory condition, known as a "state of good repair." Yet the City's capital budget allocates only about half, with the gap especially large for streets, hospitals, and parks.
Blog
Pensions & Benefits
The State and Local Pension Stretch
June 16, 2010
New York stands out for consistently setting aside adequate funds to make its employee pension systems fiscally sound, but political leaders are considering heading down a fiscally irresponsible path.
Blog
Education
High Time For Higher Education Funding Reform
April 13, 2010
Explains why the irrational and inequitable tuition policies at CUNY and SUNY should be replaced by a rational tuition policy that allows for regular increases but also does not reduce financial aid to students.
Report
Energy & Environment
New York’s Green Policies
Too Much or Too Little – A Competitive Perspective
April 03, 2011
This report assesses how New York compares to other cities in pursuing green objectives and suggests how New York’s leaders can set priorities for taking additional steps to promote environmental goals in ways that align with goals of economic growth and urban competitiveness.
Letter
Pensions & Benefits
CBC Urges the Governor to Veto a School District Borrowing Bill
July 11, 2011
CBC sent a letter to Governor Cuomo urging him to veto A6309/S4067, the bill that would allow school districts to borrow an amount equal to 125% of their required 2011 pension contributions and to repay them over 15 years.
Blog
Energy & Environment
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Wins the 2012 CBC Prize for Public Service Innovation
February 06, 2012
The Citizens Budget Commission is pleased to announce the winner of its 2012 CBC Prize for Public Service Innovation is the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
Blog
Health Care
Improving the Way New York Pays for Medicaid
January 24, 2012
Governor Andrew Cuomo’s budget proposals for fiscal year 2012-13 include an important first step towards fixing a longstanding flaw in the way New York pays for its Medicaid program.
Blog
Pensions & Benefits
Simple But Significant
Savings from the Elimination of the Medicare Part B Reimbursement
December 19, 2010
As New York’s elected officials consider options for balancing budgets in the face of record deficits, they should eliminate a public employee fringe benefit rarely offered anywhere else: reimbursement for Medicare Part B premiums.
Blog
Taxes
New Revenues and the Path to Sustainable State Spending
March 07, 2011
Since the onset of the national recession the State has relied more extensively on new revenue measures than on recurring spending cuts.
Blog
Pensions & Benefits
School Districts Savings by Following State Practices for Employee Health Insurance
February 01, 2011
Negotiating increases in premium sharing with school employee unions would provide immediate savings and reduce future costs.
Blog
State Budget
How Sick Leave Can Be Bad for a Locality's Fiscal Health
(And Health Insurance May Be Even Worse)
July 01, 2012
“Excusable” borrowing appears now to be growing, extending to accrued sick leave and vacation days that are claimed by departing employees without money having been set aside to pay for them.
Testimony
Education
Testimony to the Education Reform Commission
July 26, 2012
Simply put, the aggregate amount of money is not the problem. Rather, current funding needs to be re-targeted to reflect new priorities.
Testimony
Energy & Environment
Testimony on NYC Solid Waste Management Practices
Submitted to NYC Council Committee on Sanitation & Solid Waste Management
October 27, 2011
New York is being wasteful in its waste management practices. We could save tens of millions, perhaps even hundreds of millions, of dollars without harming the environment by more sensibly managing New Yorkers’ solid waste. An improved system for waste collection and disposal could prevent further reductions in essential services in coming budgets.
Testimony
City Budget
Testimony to the New York City Charter Revision Commission
August 02, 2010
CBC submits this testimony to express our opposition to granting charter-mandated formula budgets to certain City offices, as doing so would be fiscally imprudent and would undermine the long-established process by which the Mayor and the City Council establish budget priorities as elected representatives.