As I noted in my overview of all federal, state and local government activity, which you can read here, most people do not benefit from most government programs, activities and expenditures. These are instead limited to select eligible populations, based on age (public education, Medicare, Social Security), means or needs. But this post and the two after it will compare local government employment and pay levels for the sorts of general public services that could be used by anyone, some of which are used by everyone. Most of these services are provided by local governments, and are far more extensive in urban areas than in rural areas. This post is about public infrastructure – highways and streets, mass transit, and public water, sewer, electric and gas utilities along with related private sector activities. A series of charts on the subject comparing New York City with other parts of New York State, New Jersey, the U.S. average, and selected other areas may be found on “Saying the Unsaid in New York.”

The health care, social services and housing functions will feature far more prominently in finance data from the 2012 Census of Governments, which will be released later this year, than in the employment phase, the subject of this series of posts. That is because although these functions, and health care and social assistance in particular, are substantially paid for by the federal, state and local governments, directly or (through tax breaks) indirectly, most of the actual work is not done by public employees. It is carried out by private, frequently non-profit, organizations and institutions. Moreover while local governments are often responsible for administering these programs, most of the money comes from, and most of the rules are set by, the federal and state governments.

That said, New York City’s local government public hospital, public welfare, and housing and community development employment is substantial enough to be a significant component of the city’s relatively high local government employment overall. And by including private sector employment data in related industries with substantial government funding and involvement, it is possible to get an impression of the full scope of public sector spending in these categories from employment data. A series of charts and commentary on that data may found on “Saying the Unsaid in New York.”

APRIL 1, 2014

All those really excited about this raise their hands.  http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/209872/we-have-a-budget/