The Latest

Parks, Libraries and Sanitation: 2012 Census of Governments Employment and Payroll Data

|

One of the big news items in the new administration’s proposed budget is that it does not contain the usual “budget dance,” under which the Mayor proposes cutbacks in parks and libraries and then allows the City Council to play the hero by demanding that those services be restored. Given that the New York City tax burden is just about the highest anywhere, as I showed here, and the fact that space-challenged urban dwellers trade away private amenities like their own backyards, books and automobiles for public amenities such as public parks, libraries and transit, one wonders why elected officials felt free to threaten to take those shared amenities away to begin with. In fact as tax dollars have been shifted elsewhere, generally to retroactively enhanced pensions for powerful public employee unions and past debts run up by Generation Greed, New Yorkers have been told they need to “donate” to their parks and libraries, over and above those taxes, lest they lose them. And now they may be told that there will be a tax on those donations as well, so they’d better donate more.

How high, however, is the city’s local government employment in the Parks and Culture, Libraries, and Sanitation functions compared with other places? How well-paid are the local government employees who do that sort of work in NYC, compared with those doing similar work elsewhere? A series of charts that seek to answer those questions may be found on “Saying the Unsaid in New York.”

Infrastructure: Census of Governments Employment and Payroll Data

|

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.”

Health Care, Social Services and Housing: 2012 Census of Governments Employment and Payroll

|

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.”