Welcome to Texas, NOW GO HOME!
Posted on 06/12/2005 7:05:22 AM PDT by qam1
Congratulations, New Yorkers: You now have the distinction of officially being the highest-taxed group in the nation.
According to an annual publication of The Taxpayers Network, www.taxpayersnetwork.org in Cedarville, Wisc., New York — merely third in 2002 — has ascended to first place in 2004 in the category of state and local tax burden as percent of income.
On the average, New Yorkers pay 12.9 percent of their income to state and local taxes. In 2002, they paid 12.3 percent and were surpassed by Washington, D.C., and Maine.
Both Washington and Maine fell in the rankings, both because their respective percentages fell and because New York’s rose.
Why has New York reached the pinnacle?
Part of it must be the generous benefits New York state accords to Medicaid recipients. This state’s are said to be the most comprehensive of any, meaning that more maladies and conditions are covered than anyplace else.
New York is a great place to live if you need government assistance. If you’re among those helping to pay for it, though, it is the worst, and The Taxpayers Network has documented that it is so.
This hurts in two ways.
First, if you are a resident, you are keeping less of your pay than people in other states. This obviously is not a piece of information destined to promote peace of mind.
And second, if you are counting on business and industry migrating to your state to ease your tax burden, you are probably out of luck, since taxes are one factor such prospective migrants examine in trying to decide where to settle and they aren’t likely to choose a place where the government usurps so much of one’s income.
So economic-development specialists in New York state are swimming upstream. The northeastern corner of the state is particularly up against it, as it is isolated and subject to notorious weather.
The economic developers in this region deserve immense credit for accomplishing what they have. They have parlayed few advantages into impressive gains. Among those advantages are proximity to Canada and breathtaking scenery.
In trying to offset an extremely gloomy tax picture, they may not sound like much, but our advocates are apparently very clever.
We are now learning that, in addition to already high taxes, our property is increasing dramatically in value. While that sounds like a fortunate bit of news, it actually compounds our tax problems, since assessed value is a component of the tax formula.
In trying to find a way out of this paralyzing predicament, our trust must rest with our state representatives. It is up to them to find or invent ways to deliver services less expensively.
Other states are doing it, and they don’t seize 12.9 percent of constituents’ income. That is a dispiriting and indicting statistic.
FYI
.. & they will, . . New York is toast.
New Yorkers need to emigrate to other states.
LOL!!! I did - 23 years ago and never looked to return.
In New York the Republicans control the Governorship and the Senate 35-26 and have for 10 years now.
Welcome to Texas, NOW GO HOME!
I'm thinking of doing the same thing on a county level. I live in Charlotte, NC. Our taxes are jumping sky high this year.
Hillary at work doing what she does best.
I spent eight years of my adult life living in New York, half of that in NYC. Especially in the city, I never saw any indication that people were upset about their taxes. They seemed to be almost proud of what they were paying. Now in upstate there wasn't quite this love affair with taxes, and a lot of these people do in fact emigrate (although at least as much because of the weather as the high taxes.) High tax states got that way because people either wanted or didn't mind paying higher taxes. New York would be the last place you would see a tax revolt.
It's one of the reasons we left Delaware - the taxes were starting to get ridiculous. We're very fortunate in the particular part of VA we live in now..the tax burden is much lower here than in other parts of the state.
Just moved back to Upstate NY after finishing my military service. I love the area, and the family is here, but the various levels of government here drive me insane. Most people Upstate have conservative values but have been duped into believing that dems represent the little guy. Many of the republicans are either RINOS or former dems that switched parties. This state is regulated to death! There is a fee or a tax associated with just about anything you can think of. Ever driven through NY? First thing you come to after crossing over from PA is a toll booth. For all the taxes and fees there seems to be very little return. Where is all this money going? All the businesses seem to be leaving due to all the taxes, fees, regulations, and red tape. Ok rant off, but I hate what is happening to this state!!
Please. NY transplants here are half of the dems numbers.
They keep demanding that Fl=NY.
We have the same problem here in NC. They insist on telling us the better way to do things. Why did they leave Paradise in the first place?
I know.
We used to have a very popular bumper sticker:
"We don't CARE how you did it in NY"
Here in NH, our income and sales tax DON'T EXIST!
Oh yes, and property taxes are under 2%.
Eg, phillip morris just moved back to richmond, VA. Gabz lives in VA.
And personally, I own a farm in NY - that sits vacant. 230 acres of mice and trees, no people - because I refuse to live there.
That IS a tax revolt.
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