As Gov. Paterson and legislative lead ers meet today to tackle a multibil lion-dollar budget shortfall, they should note a new report’s warning: New Yorkers are fleeing in droves — and it’s wreaking havoc with the public fisc.
The report, by the Empire Center for New York State Policy, shows that some 1.5 million people left the state between 2000 and 2008 — including 1.1 million from New York City alone.
And they took their tax dollars with them: In 2006, for example, the state lost some $4.3 billion from newly turned ex-New Yorkers.
Actually, folks have been fleeing for years: In 1950, New Yorkers represented nearly a tenth of the nation; now they make up less than a fifteenth.
It’s cost the state a fortune.
Of course, New York remains a magnet for immigrants and young folks. But newcomers earned about $20,500 less, on average, than those who left during the years studied, so income taxes raised less revenue for the city and state.
And here’s the key: Folks headed for the hills in large part to escape New York’s onerous tax rates. (Many went to states like Florida, which has no income tax at all.)
A study last month from the Tax Foundation shows just how onerous: It said real-estate taxes (for starters) in several New York counties are among the highest in the nation.
And a foundation report yesterday showed that homeowners in some New York counties — like Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk — pay more than anywhere else in America, even after accounting for their higher incomes.
Not that state lawmakers care, of course. Yesterday, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Carl Kruger balked at significant budget cuts proposed by Gov. Paterson. Get set for even more hikes in taxes, fines and fees.
And, of course, for departures by even more New Yorkers.
It’s a vicious cycle: With less revenue coming in, politicians turn to knee-jerk tax hikes — spurring yet more flight.
But there is way off the treadmill: Stop the spending. Cut the taxes.
It’s as easy as that.