George Sweeting, NYC Independent Budget Office.

Last month, at a State Legislature hearing in Albany on the Governor’s proposed budget, Mayor de Blasio faced repeated questions about why New York City is exempt from the cap on property tax increases that applies elsewhere in the state. The legislators cited a variety of reasons why the city should accept a cap, although few hold up to scrutiny – most notably the assertion that a cap was a “fix” for the city’s broken property tax system. (read more…)

Illustration: Jeff Hopkins.

Fiscal year 2010 Medicaid spending by the fifty states, excluding administrative costs, exceeded $389 billion dollars.  New York State led the states in total spending at $52 billion dollars. Medicaid costs are now the largest driver of state and local spending in New York State. Recent changes in State law have helped reduce the local costs, but Medicaid continues to dominate State and local expenses.

Congress in 1965 established Medicaid under Title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide health insurance for the nation’s indigent population.  It is an entitlement program, meaning that anyone who meets statutory eligibility requirements is entitled to Medicaid benefits. Over the years Congress has expanded Medicaid eligibility to include working families, primary care, family planning services, hospital services, home health care and related transportation services.  Medicaid filled the void for millions of Americans who did not have access to private health insurance, but did so at great cost to state and local budgets. (read more…)