IBO’s review of New York City’s spending on antismoking programs finds that spending levels
have varied widely in recent years—and that after trending downward the local adult smoking rate has been increasing.
The city makes an annual payment to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to support the authority’s capital program. NYPIRG’s Straphangers Campaign asked IBO to review the annual contributions to see if they have kept pace with inflation.
Preliminary data for fiscal year 2014 indicate the city received about $41 million in revenue from camera-generated redlight, bus-lane, and now speeding summonses, as well as $14 million in ticket revenue from traffic violations written up by police officers.
Report provides an overview of geologic and natural features, historical development patterns, zoning, land use, infrastructure, demographic and economic profiles, a summary of environmental conditions, flood risk, and a preliminary evaluation of potential strategic properties for redevelopment.
The amount the city budgets each year for snow removal is set by a formula in the City Charter. The formula is the average of spending on snow removal in the five prior years—so the budget for 2014 is based on the actual amounts spent in fiscal years 2008–2012.