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Report
City Budget
Giving Taxpayers More Bang for the Buck
Managing for Results in New York City Government
November 01, 2006
In this report summary, CBC highlights two major weaknesses in the City’s management accountability framework: 1) Money and performance are not connected in the budget; and 2) The City is not focused on achieving results the public desires in every service area. To address these weaknesses, the report makes five recommendations.
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The labor market case for more generous retirement benefits for public sector workers is no longer valid.
Blog
Pensions & Benefits
Giving Credit Where It’s Due? New York City’s $1.3 Billion in Health Insurance Savings
December 28, 2014
In its recent mid-year budget modification the de Blasio administration credited a coalition of municipal employee unions with achieving $1.3 billion in savings in the City’s employee and retiree health insurance costs. Yet the unions have not agreed to any changes in the plan, and the City and the unions have taken no actions to reduce costs. How can this be?
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.
Report
City Budget
Managing for Results in New York City Government
A Review of Current Practices
November 30, 2006
In this report, CBC highlights two major weaknesses in the City’s management accountability framework: 1) Money and performance are not connected in the budget; and 2) The City is not focused on achieving results the public desires in every service area. To address these weaknesses, the report makes five recommendations.
Report
Energy & Environment
12 Things New Yorkers Should Know About Their Garbage
May 21, 2014
This report highlights the reasons for the surprisingly high cost of this essential service, including inefficiencies that the City should address in its upcoming negotiations with sanitation workers.
Blog
State Budget
The Challenge of Producing a $2 Billion Surplus
January 16, 2014
With school aid and Medicaid growing at annual rates at or above 4 percent, all other categories of spending, including agency operations, will face offsetting reductions to the plan if the net increase in overall state spending is to be kept to 2 percent.
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
Pensions & Benefits
Old Assumptions, New Realities
The Truth About Wages and Retirement Benefits For Government Employees
March 31, 2006
This report summarizes a more detailed study prepared by CBC, “The Case for Redesigning Retirement Benefits for New York’s Public Employees,” released in 2005. For decades the popular image of government employment has involved the tradeoff of lower wages for job security and relatively generous retirement benefits. That image, while still widespread, is no longer the reality.
Blog
Public Workforce
Three Questions about 1,000 New Police Officers
June 18, 2014
As the New York City budget for fiscal year 2015 nears adoption, one of the more expensive Council initiatives, at an estimated cost of almost $100 million annually, is the hiring of 1,000 new police officers to increase staffing at police precincts.
Report
Energy & Environment
Getting the Fiscal Waste Out of Solid Waste Collection in New York City
September 23, 2014
With a new mayoral administration, a new sanitation commissioner, and an expired contract with municipal sanitation workers, redesigning the public and private components of local waste collection would save about $300 million annually in the long term. The Mayor and City Council should make this restructuring a goal and begin a multiyear phase-in.
Letter
State Budget
CBC Recommendations on Tax Relief and Reform Proposals in Executive Budget
March 05, 2014
This letter expresses support for Executive Budget tax reforms, but recommends that action on the property tax relief proposals be deferred until their design is improved and the surplus necessary to sustain them is achieved.
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.