Small-business owners in New York consider local property taxes and health-care costs their biggest barriers to growth, a survey by the Center for Governmental Research found.

More than three-quarters of small businesses surveyed said it is harder to do business in New York than else-where. But a plurality of respondents, and 54 percent of upstate manu-facturers, said New York's business climate has improved in recent years.

Property taxes, health-care costs, the state personal income tax, energy costs, and wage/salary costs were the top five barriers to growth, the Rochester think tank reported. Almost half of respondents said state taxes hurt their firms' ability to grow.

Click here or a summary of the CGR report.