From Enough Already NY - “One reason New York has trouble keeping its costs down is that we really don’t know how many people are on the State’s payroll—because there are two payrolls.

An investigation by the New York Times shows that Governor Paterson, to his credit, has been working to reduce spending and shrink the payrolls for the agencies under his direct authority, while an entirely different set of state entities — public authorities like the MTA and the Thruway Authority — are operating autonomously. These groups that receive state funds have been expanding their spending and employees. No one is really sure how many people these entities employ.

This is the ultimate example of government dysfunction. While one hand is dropping a few coins into the savings jar, the other scoops out money by the handful. How can Albany possibly manage its budget effectively if it has no ability to rein in agencies that absorb taxpayer dollars?

A state spending cap is a key part of our Five to Survive reform agenda. This can be accomplished through measures like instituting a hiring freeze and consolidating state agencies, but these efforts will be for naught if they can’t be instituted across the board.

Last year the Public Authorities Reform Act of 2009 was passed in an effort to create more transparency and accountability among these agencies. It established the New York State Authorities Budget Office. This office oversees “the operations and finances of public authorities to assure they are acting in the public interest and consistent with their intended public purpose.” We would say that one of these interests is certainly that these authorities follow the same mandate of budget reduction by which agencies under the governor’s authority must abide.”

To send a message to Albany telling them that you have had Enough Already click here.

In New York, it isn’t hard to find a government that can levy taxes. There are 62 counties, 62 cities, 553 villages, 698 school districts and 932 towns. And then the whopper: 6,927 special districts that include local lighting, sewer, fire, water and drainage districts.

Joseph Spector writes in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle - “Add them up and there are 10,092 entities in New York outside New York City that can tax residents. And that number, from the state Attorney General’s Office, is just a best estimate. There could be many more, state officials warn.

Even states that rival New York for the highest property taxes in the nation, such as New Jersey, can’t come close to the number of taxing authorities in the Empire State. New Jersey has about 1,700 governments; neighboring Pennsylvania has about 3,100.

Frustration with high taxes in New York is fueling a revived and spirited push to dissolve governments, particularly villages, and residents are armed with a new law that makes it much easier to do so through a referendum.”

To read more click here.

Nick Reisman of Gannett News Service reports on the first disclosure of bonus and overtime pay for public authorities.

He writes: “The employees of public authorities received more than $6.6 million in extra pay during the 2009-10 fiscal year, according to an oversight office that monitors the entities.

The disclosure of the pay of 21 authorities’ extra pay — which encompasses overtime, bonuses or obligations of collective bargaining contracts — comes as some state lawmakers and good-government groups seek to pry more information from the entities that have been known to guard their privacy.

“It shines a light on what is going on in these authorities and specifically what these people are making,” said Barbara Bartoletti, the legislative director of the League of Women Voters of New York. “This is something that the public should know and then it’s up to the public to decide whether or not they want to pay for it.”

More authorities are due to reveal their compensation for the 2009-10 fiscal year, which ended March 31.

Of the 21 authorities and public corporations that reported their compensation and extra pay, the Erie County Medical Center Corp. reported the largest total, about $4.4 million.

Tom Quatroche, a spokesman for the center, said much of the extra compensation reflects back pay as the result of retroactive union agreements.

“Our salaries for our executives are below average nationally and locally,” he said. “Salaries are industry specific. Whether it’s hospitals or car manufacturers, there’s a certain level of salary to attract talent.”

Read the story.

A Journal News editorial is echoing the Business Council’s wish to eliminate some of the more than 700 public and quasi-public agencies that exist in New York State.

File this under the heading, “You have to start somewhere.”

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, D-Greenburgh, who successfully pushed for the Public Authority Reform law that went into effect in March, now proposes eliminating 129 of the more than 700 quasi-public agencies. But these are just the 129 easy ones, as Brodsky himself acknowledges. Many on the list for paring, which includes more than 15 in the Lower Hudson Valley, have long been inactive and don’t even have boards that meet regularly…

There is no reason to keep inactive authorities alive, particularly since they have the ability to issue bonds that add to the state’s debt — that is, should they ever be reconvened . As of yet, the legislation has no sponsor in the Senate. It deserves one.”

To read more click here.

The City of Binghamton and Village of Johnson City are taking a small step, but important, step toward local government consolidation. The two municipalities have agreed to share one police chief.

The Business Council of New York State, Inc. supports local government consolidation to lower costs and to allow property tax reductions. Consolidation in police and fire services are often among the most difficult.

Pressconnects.com reporters Steve Reilly and George Basler write: The “Home of the Square Deal” has struck another bargain.

In separate votes Wednesday night, the Johnson City Board of Trustees and the Binghamton City Council approved an agreement to share the services and the cost — totaling $168,822 in salary and benefits — of a single police chief.

The vote was unanimous in Binghamton, with all seven council members voting for the agreement. In Johnson City, the vote was 4-1, with the lone “no” vote cast by Village Trustee Cindy Novobilski.

On June 1, current Binghamton Police Chief Joseph Zikuski will begin splitting his time evenly between the Johnson City Police Department and the Binghamton Police Bureau, serving as the head of each.

“He’s going to respond to where his expertise is needed,” said Johnson City Mayor Dennis Hannon. “If he’s in Binghamton and there’s a serious emergency or major crime in … Johnson City, he’s going to respond and do what he has to do.”

The agreement, which is for a one-year-period, is only to share a chief, not to consolidate the departments, Binghamton council members said.

Read the story.

A. Gary Shilling writes in today’s Wall Street Journal on the need to lower government labor costs.

He writes: “Life is tough and getting tougher for state and local governments. Revenues from personal and corporate income and sales taxes are down and property taxes are weakening. Budget deficits are jumping, and states now issue debt to fund routine expenditures. Meanwhile, pension obligations are underfunded to the tune of $1 trillion, according to the Pew Research Center. States on average have set aside just 7.1% of retiree health care and other nonpension benefits, and 20 states have reserved nothing.”

Read more.

Delen Goldburg of the Syracuse Post- Standard writes - “Gov. David Paterson ordered a “hard” hiring freeze in state government nearly two years ago, declaring that only “absolutely essential” positions be filled.

But state officials hired 51,464 people at a cost to taxpayers of more than $1 billion in salaries, plus fringe benefits, since that decree on July 30, 2008.

The hires include sons of elected officials, a close friend of the governor’s and a slew of highly paid political appointees.
Former Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll, for example, makes $155,000 a year in an environmental job the governor created for him. Paterson hired an executive assistant at $178,000 a year, a special assistant at $135,000 a year and a scheduler at $105,000 a year. A man responsible for blogging and tweeting for the Senate was hired by the Democratic majority at $120,000 a year.”

To read more click here.

The Utica Observer -Dispatch reports - “The state Senate Thursday passed a bill that would allow towns to merge into one court facility, Sen. Joseph Griffo, R-Rome, announced in a statement.

“In rural areas, where town courts may have very few cases, and where there is a lack of candidates to run for office, it simply makes sense to combine and have one town court that serves several communities, rather than try to make a structure work that no longer fits the reality of our communities,” Griffo wrote.

The bill will be delivered to the state Assembly for consideration.

Griffo said the issue came to his attention while working with constituents in the Lewis County towns of Harrisburg, Montague and Pinckney, which have a total combined population of 850.

Located in an area totaling 146.3 square miles, court volume in the towns fluctuates seasonally based upon recreational usage by outside visitors.”

Maureen Nolan of the Syracuse Post-Standard reports - “Department heads from the Syracuse school district and City Hall have been meeting to find ways to consolidate information technology, financial and facilities operations, Superintendent Daniel Lowengard said tonight.

If there are saving to be found, they probably won’t be realized in time to help close the district’s projected budget gap next year of roughly $18 million, Lowengard said. The city faces a formidable gap, too.”

To read more click here.

Judy Rife of the Times Herald-Record writes - “The Metropolitan Transportation Authority moved Tuesday to eliminate more than 1,100 jobs in an ongoing struggle to overcome stubborn deficits.

“This is just the beginning of a comprehensive overhaul of how the MTA does business,” said Jay Walder, the MTA’s chairman. “We will be reducing overtime, consolidating redundant functions and working with suppliers to lower costs.”

Walder described the layoffs as “extremely painful,” but a necessary element of the MTA starting to live within its means. The proposed reductions in transit service — the subject of upcoming public hearings — are another step in that same direction.

The MTA, which revamped its 2010 budget in December to close a sudden $387 million gap, is now facing a new $378 million shortfall.”

To read the rest of the story click here.