Empire Center Ranks Local Government Pay

This month, the Empire Center released the newest edition of What They Make, its annual examination of local government payrolls.

Using data from the New York State and Local Retirement System, the report includes the number and average pay of county, village, city and town government employees during the fiscal year ending March 31.

“What They Make lets taxpayers see how their local governments’ payrolls stack up,” said Tim Hoefer, executive director of the Empire Center. “Big differences exist, even between neighboring communities, and taxpayers have a right to ask their elected officials why.”

The report lists the 50 highest-paid local government employees in New York (page 5) and the 10 highest-paid employees in each region (pages 6 and 7). The 175,262 records, totaling $9.5 billion in pay, that were analyzed for the report are searchable at SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s transparency website.

The Empire Center, based in Albany, is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan think tank dedicated to promoting policies to make New York a better place to live, work and do business.

Teacher and school employee pay from SeeThroughNY

An updated searchable online database of earnings for 384,186 employees of New York State school districts outside New York City was posted at www.SeeThroughNY.net, the transparency website sponsored by the Empire Center for Public Policy.

Since 2008, average pay for members of the New York State Teachers' Retirement System has risen 11 percent statewide, the newly posted data indicates.

Read and download the full report here.

Visit the database on SeeThroughNY here.

Updated Public Authority Payrolls on SeeThroughNY

From HERE:

Updated payroll files for 62,545 state and local public authority employees in New York have been posted on SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center's government transparency website for taxpayers.

The top average pay in the latest SeeThroughNY update was the $97,675 reported for the Long Island Power Authority, which has been widely criticized for its handling of Superstorm Sandy.

Transparency: New York State Payroll Updated on SeeThroughNY

New Yorkers can now search the complete 2011 state government payroll on SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center's government transparency website. The database includes names, titles, base pay rates, and total pay received by 288,539 employees...

To read the full release, click here.
To view the database, click here.

Recent Bureau of Labor Statistics releases

National Compensation Survey – Wages

An Examination of All-Employee Payroll and Hours Reports in CES

Productivity and Costs by Industry: Selected Service-Providing and Mining Industries

Updated Public Authority Payrolls Posted Online

Updated payroll files for Public Authorities have been posted on www.SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center's government transparency web site for taxpayers. The new data includes names, titles, base pay rates and total pay received for the 59,979 public authority employees added this week.
The full text of this press release is available here.

School Payrolls Grew in 2008-09

Professional payrolls continued expanding in New York State school districts outside New York City last year, according to data posted today on www.SeeThroughNY.net, the government transparency website sponsored by the Empire Center for New York State Policy.

Total spending on teaching and administrative salaries by districts outside New York City increased 5 percent statewide to $14 billion--a $670 million annual increase--in the 2008-09 school year...

The full text of this press release is available here.

Contact: Lise Bang-Jensen -518.434.3100

2006 Payroll Distribution Data by State and Major Industry

Because of recent requests for the number of firms by payroll size, the U.S.
Census Bureau recently produced 2006 payroll distribution data by state and major industry. The combined real estate, rental and leasing industry led the major industries in the share of firms with annual payrolls below $100,000 while the management industry had the lowest share. Most states were within 5 percent of the national share of firms with annual payrolls below $100,000, 58 percent. The District of Columbia stood out with only 36 percent of its firms in this pay category.

Should you need further information, please feel free to contact Brian Headd at (202) 205-6533 or advocacy@sba.gov.

New York State Senate and Assembly Payrolls Updated

An updated staff payroll for the New York State Senate and Assembly was posted this week at www.SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center's government transparency site for taxpayers. The payroll is fully searchable by name and title, and reflects the latest changes made in the Senate staff payroll. The payroll, current as of Aug. 17, can also be downloaded from the site in spreadsheet form.

For the full text of this press release, click here.

Contact: Tim Hoefer, 518.434.3100

Public Authority Payrolls, School Labor Contracts Posted Online

Payroll files for 384 Public Authorities have been posted on www.SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center's government transparency web site for taxpayers. The new data includes names, titles, base pay rates and total pay received for most of the 44,320 public authority employees added this month. For the full text of the press release, click here.

Also, earlier this month, updated school labor contracts for 77 teacher unions and 86 school superintendents were posted on the site. For the full text of the press release, click here.

Contact: Tim Hoefer 518.434.3100