Free Republic

New York is about to achieve a dubious milestone: For the first time in history, the state's main bank account is poised to end the year in the red. After months of plunging revenues and weeks of budget battles, New York had a negative balance of $174 million in its general fund on Wednesday, with nearly $1 billion in bills owed by day's end. Every sign pointed to the account still being in the hole when 2010 begins. New York moves toward a previously unimaginable eventuality: A government check that bounces. "New York state is officially living paycheck to paycheck,"...

New York voters aren’t very optimistic about the financial solvency of their state, but they're also sending their elected representatives mixed signals. They oppose budget cuts in a couple key areas but are against tax hikes even more. A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state finds that 56% of voters say it is at least somewhat likely that New York will be bankrupt by the end of the year. Twenty-one percent (21%) say it is very likely. Thirty-seven percent (37%) believe that outcome is unlikely, but only nine percent (9%) say it is not at all likely. An...

Momentum is building in the City Council for a $1 billion property tax increase this year, half a dozen council members said yesterday. While it is too early to tell how big any increase would be, a growing number of lawmakers have resigned themselves to the fact that higher property taxes will be in the mix of revenue raisers in the new budget. The idea of raising property taxes isn’t new. Council members privately discussed boosting them last year at a time when the mayor was publicly opposing such tax increases, according to three lawmakers. At the time, they decided...