Blog posts tagged with "Fringe Benefits"

The Next Challenge: Retiree Health Benefits (Updated April 25, 2012)

Apr 17, 2012

Last month, State leaders acted to reduce future costs and create substantial long-term savings for taxpayers by adopting pension benefit reforms for new public employees. The next challenge is to address the high costs of retiree health insurance.

Another Good Idea to Save the City Money

Oct 28, 2011

Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg, Comptroller Liu and a number of city labor leaders announced an agreement that is intended to “depoliticize,” “professionalize” and “streamline” the way pension funds invest. This consolidation is meant to reduce the complexity, inconsistency and inefficiency of administering five different pension funds. This makes sense.

Possible City Savings From Health Insurance Changes

Jun 20, 2011

The Mayor and City Council are discussing ways to avoid the layoffs and service cuts proposed to balance the fiscal year 2012 budget. They should consider reforming health insurance arrangements for employees and retirees as a way to create meaningful savings and prevent the cuts. CBC suggests three specific changes that could save the City over $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2012:

An End to Business As Usual

Apr 11, 2011

State leaders have seized the opportunity presented by the unprecedented budget deficit to implement long-term solutions that will help restore the State’s fiscal strength. While the budget negotiations signaled a change in Albany’s working dynamics, some old habits die hard; indeed, some just won’t die at all.

School Districts Should Achieve Substantial Savings by Following State Practices for Employee Health Insurance Premiums

Feb 02, 2011

Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposals to cap property taxes and reduce education aid mean that New York State’s 676 school districts will need to manage with fewer resources; their biggest challenge is to reduce spending without hurting services for the more than 2.7 million public school children.

Simple but Significant: Savings from the Elimination of the Medicare Part B Reimbursement

Dec 20, 2010

As New York’s elected officials consider options for balancing budgets in the face of record deficits, they should be attuned to opportunities for cost-savings in all areas, no matter how big or small. One approach for identifying potential savings is examining practices in which New York State and its local governments are out of line with their peers.

What is OPEB and Why Does it Cost $9.4 Billion?

Dec 06, 2010

The costs of government seem to grow exponentially, but some increases raise the eyebrows of even the most seasoned analysts.

Not so sweet

Jun 21, 2010

While the State and local governments struggle to pay for current salaries and fringe benefits of public employees and to fully fund the pension system for retirees - resorting to a "borrowing" scheme to stretch out required payments - the State Legislature has remained undeterred in intro