In his briefing on Mayor deBlasio’s Preliminary FY 2018 NYC Budget, James Parrott highlights the following:

Cautious in face of an uncertain Washington: Federal aid is 1/3 of State budget (which is 18% of City budget); 8-10 % of City budget; 64% of NYCHA budget; and nearly half of the Health and Hospitals budget.

State budget better this year, but still challenges: Governor proposed to extend millionaires tax, but it should be enhanced; threat to CFE-settlement determined school aid; handful … (read more)

March 7, 2017. The millionaires’ tax is New York’s fiscal Swiss Army knife, a tool that addresses many different needs. It helps fund important priorities, balance the New York State budget, respond to heightened income inequality, and lessen the overall regressive state and local tax structure. And it is very much needed in New York today.

PDF of full Policy Brief… (read more)

February 23, 2017. New York State faces gargantuan budget challenges if the current federal administration is successful in pursuing the many cuts in funding to states proposed thus far. In its most recent policy brief, the Fiscal Policy Institute points out that over one-third of New York’s All Funds budget is comprised of federal funds and billions in additional funds are also sent to local governments, schools, and transportation. Altogether, over $70 billion in federal aid flows to the state … (read more)

February 7, 2017. Executive Director Ron Deutsch testified before the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Committees on the Governor’s FY 2018 Proposed Budget and Financial Plan.

Income inequality, as indicated by the richest 1 percent share of total income, has grown substantially since 1980 in New York State as well as nationally. One of the most sensible tools the state has to address the growing income gap in New York is the millionaires’ tax. The proposed extension of … (read more)

February 7, 2017. In its 27th annual New York State budget briefing book, the Fiscal Policy Institute analyzes and comments on Governor Andrew Cuomo’s FY 2018 Executive Budget.

This year’s New York State budget negotiations take shape against a worrisome backdrop. The president and congress are threatening to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, make drastic cuts to programs that help millions of New Yorkers, and create a hostile environment for the states four million immigrants. The state has an … (read more)

January 18, 2017. Making state and local taxes less regressive in New York is a top priority for our organization. We are pleased to see the Executive Budget proposal include an extension of the millionaires’ tax and applaud the Governor for making this the centerpiece of his new budget. Given the great income disparities in our state, we think the Governor and the legislature should go further. We would like to see the millionaires’ tax made permanent and to … (read more)

September 22, 2016. James Parrott, a member of the New York City Council’s Task Force on Economic Development Tax Expenditures chaired by Finance Committee Chair Julissa Ferreras, presented this testimony at a September 22 hearing on the Task Force report and recommendations for a rigorous, ongoing evaluation procedure.  He also urged the Council to convene a hearing on the Hudson Yards property tax breaks, the costs of which are rapidly rising.

PDF of Testimony… (read more)

June 16, 2016. In Income inequality in the US by state, metropolitan area, and county, a new report published by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) for the Economic Analysis and Research Network (EARN), Mark Price, an economist at the Keystone Research Center in Harrisburg, PA and Estelle Sommeiller, a socio-economist at the Institute for Research in Economic and Social Sciences in Greater Paris, France detail the incomes of the top 1 percent and the bottom 99 percent by state, … (read more)

June 2, 2016. The following article by James Parrott appeared in the Spring 2016 issue of The American Prospect magazine.

If you want to learn about the latest manifestations of inequality in urban America, read the real-estate sections of newspapers and magazines and check out the photo spreads on luxury condos in new residential skyscrapers. The palatial size, lavish finishes, and breathtaking price tags of these properties are advertisements of our new Gilded Age. In the area immediately south of … (read more)