By Kathy Kahn At 11:45p.m. on March 31, Albany lawmakers passed Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s $168.3 Billion NYS Budget for fiscal year 2018-2019, but no mention of how to address the $4 billion deficit the state faces were included. It is the fourth consecutive year the budget was passed “on time.” Among the positives: A uniform policy on sexual […]
New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli announced this week that overall local sales tax collections for calendar year 2017. Rockland County’s sales tax revenue increased 2 percent from $205 to $209 million. Sales tax totaled $16.6 billion across New York State, an increase of $620 million, or 3.9 percent over the previous year, marking the highest year-over-year growth statewide since 2013. New […]
By Kathy Kahn During the Roaring 20s, New York created its first public authority—The Port Authority of New York. Since then, that bloated agency has been joined by over 600 “authorities” – a swamp where funding allocated to a specific authority often ends up underwriting unrelated state projects outside its purview. With New York’s state-funded debt […]
By Kathy Kahn NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, guest speaker at the Rockland Business Assn. May 18 luncheon, praised its Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council’s two members, President of Rockland Community College, Dr. Cliff Wood (retiring June 30) and RBA President/CEO, Al Samuels. With credited courses and apprenticeships/internships geared toward creating a viable education/employment program, theirs […]