CGR Senior Research Associate Erika Rosenberg discusses Governor David Paterson's proposed state budget and its impact on taxes, local governments and services.

Lead abatement efforts in Rochester NY, subject of a recent evaluation by CGR, are helping to inspire similar efforts in New Jersey. 

CGR’s Charles Zettek urged the Village of Lake Placid and Town of North Elba NY toward combining their public works and highway operations, expanding the shared cost arrangement for parks, and equalizing their municipal water and sewer rates.

CGR  has partnered with Hofstra University to analyze the Town of North Hempstead's ambulance operations and emergency medical services and identify options for ncreased efficiency and effectiveness.   

A CGR study reveals that 2 years after the City of Rochester NY adopted a lead paint poison prevention law, the number of city children testing with high levels of lead in their blood dropped. Elevated lead levels can cause decreased IQ, increased likelihood of behavioral problems and higher school dropout rates.

The lead-based paint remaining in thousands of Rochester NY city houses was the focus of a 2006 municipal law intended to reduce lead poisoning in children. On the law's 2-year anniversary, CGR found that child lead poisoning had dropped, and over 3400 rental properties had been or would be made lead safe.

Input from recent veterans, family members and service providers helped CGR create a roadmap for how the Rochester NY community should respond to the reintegration needs of veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and their families.

A week before the release of what observers expect will be NY Gov. David Paterson's hard times budget proposal for 2008-09, Joseph Stefko Ph.D., CGR Public Finance Director, said: "I don't see any way out of this fiscal mess without rethinking employee compensation..."

A study of Sullivan County’s Health and Family Services operations is not yet complete but several of CGR's preliminary recommendations have already been enacted. A CGR team, led by Donald Pryor, Ph.D., Director of Human Services Analysis, recently met with County legislators to discuss the Division of Community Services and Adult Care Center.

As the Village of Johnson City lays plans to dissolve and fully consolidate with the Town of Union, CGR's Charles Zettek Jr. encouraged its dissolution committee to focus on how the "new town" will look on day one.  Mr. Zettek noted that it is important to develop a plan that can be achieved immediately, while recognizing that further improvements can be expected three to five years after the initial consolidation.

CGR President Kent Gardner examines the psychology and economics behind the $700 billion government bailout, explaining that its role is to reduce the uncertainty surrounding the value of mortgage-backed securities, thus re-energizing the tight credit market.  Gardner notes that the final cost of the bailout may be less than $700 billion, but the cost to the economy of doing nothing could be far higher.

Kent Gardner, Ph.D., CGR president and chief economist, is named by Governor David Paterson to 18-member panel he has asked to help him chart a financial course in response to NY's budget shortfall. The panel also includes two former U.S. treasury secretaries and a Nobel laureate.

CGR's report found that, along with adding 745 full time employees, the University of Rochester also paid more than $1 billion to local employees. This study, the second conducted for the school by CGR, notes that the university has brought in $1.7 billion in research funding over the past five years, and is a "key driver of local and regional economic growth."

IBM plans to spend $1.5 billion to enlarge and upgrade its NY operations and research centers, creating 1000 new jobs and retaining 1400 more. CGR Chief Economist Kent Gardner supports the state's $140 million package of IBM tax subsidies, noting that "jobs like the ones at IBM are enormously important to the economy of the region and state. "

With Tonawanda's population declining and aging faster than the rest of Erie County, officials want to streamline operations to conserve funds. The City and school district have hired CGR to examine overlapping services and assess jointly providing public services and reallocating or selling some facilities.

The NY-based Foundation Center's Philanthropy News Digest featured the launch of the CGR-developed online database detailing what the public sector in the 16-county Northeast Ohio region collects in taxes and spends on services.

A recent CGR study, funded by Ohio civic and business leaders to gauge government spending, shows that the combined cost of government across 16 northeast Ohio counties reached $16 billion by 2002.

Between 1992 and 2002, "tax money spent on Cuyahoga County's courts and prosecutors grew at nearly 3 times the rate of inflation and was the highest in the state..."

Stark County plans to use the recent study to "start a conversation...on combining services to create efficiencies."  The Ohio database enables Ohio government officials to draw internal and regional cost comparisons, as lead CGR researcher Charles Zettek Jr. noted that "you can't manage what you can't measure." 

In Ohio's Mahoning and Trumbull Counties, the cost of government is lower than the regional average, but still increased by more than 70% in both counties between 1992-2002. 

A land development fiscal analysis from CGR is helping the Town of Aurora decide whether to support a plan that would forever preserve 1500 acres of land from building. CGR Chief Economist Kent Gardner noted that development pressures could rise in coming years, and advocates of land preservation spoke of wanting to save Aurora's blend of community character, rural vistas and wildlife for future generations.

The National Affordable Housing and Rehabilitation Organization presented the RHA with 2 merit awards for CGR's profile of Rochester tenants. In an op-ed, the RHA Executive Director says findings dispel common stereotypes about public housing.

One way to boost revenues in the Village of Cobleskill (NY), CGR's Charles Zettek Jr. said, is to lobby Schoharie County "for a bigger chunk of the money raised by the sales tax."  Cobleskill's argument is that because it's the county's central retail center and has to foot the bill for the infrastructure to support that, it should receive a bigger share of county revenues.

Combining police services in 2 area communities could result in lower costs and increased efficiency.  A recent CGR report examined the benefits and challenges of consolidating 5 police departments in Whitestown.

Legislators argue whether workers on IDA-funded projects should be paid on union pay scales, delaying a bill allowing IDAs to fund development at nonprofit agencies.

Local development corporations (LDCs) perform government duties, but are operated privately and are not subject to open-government laws.  A recent CGR report says the LDCs need more public supervision.

Aaron argues for delaying judgment of IDAs until reporting issues are corrected.

An organization representing economic development professionals in New York state has fired back at a report that had sharply criticized industrial development agencies ...

Center for Governmental Research estimates the expansion (of the University of Rochester Medical Center) would...in effect grow a company the size of Bausch & Lomb Inc ...

In a quest to be among the top 20 academic medical centers in the country, University of Rochester Medical Center plans to invest $500 million over the next five to 10 years in construction, hiring and expanding research - (CGR study shows economic impact through 2015) ...