NEWS RELEASE

NEW CENSUS BUREAU DATA SHOW NEW YORK ONCE AGAIN
LEADS THE NATION IN STATE AND LOCAL TAXES

ALBANY— No matter how you measure it, New York State is still No. 1 in combined state and local taxes, a Public Policy Institute analysis of new U.S. Census Bureau data shows.

As of fiscal 2002, New York's state and local taxes averaged $4,645 for every state resident. That figure was the highest in the country, and some 48 percent above the national average of $3,149 per person.

That adds up to a total additional tax burden of $28.6 billion on New Yorkers, compared to what they would pay if state and local taxes here were on a par with the national average, according to the Public Policy Institute, the research affiliate of The Business Council of New York State.

Using another common measure, state and local taxes in New York averaged $131 for every $1,000 of personal income residents earned. That figure is also the highest in the country, 26 percent above average.

The data do not include the state-level tax increases New York's Legislature imposed in 2003, nor the property-tax increases most counties and school districts imposed over the last two years.

Local taxes in the Empire State are especially far out of line with competing states. As of 2002, New Yorkers paid an average of $2,384 per person in property and other taxes to school districts, municipalities and county governments. That figure was 85 percent above the average for all states.

Besides high taxes, New York's state and local-government leaders have incurred a heavy debt burden on behalf of taxpayers. The Institute's analysis found that state and local debt in New York adds up to $10,306 for every state resident, the second-heaviest debt burden in the nation.

High taxes and heavy debt are driven by high spending levels. The state government, school districts, counties, cities, towns and other governmental units spent an average of $10,376 per capita in 2002. That figure was 46 percent above the national average. New York leads the nation in Medicaid spending and is among the national leaders in spending on education, welfare and other programs.

The Institute analyzed new data posted on the Census Bureau Web site July 15. The Census data, which include detailed financial figures for each state, are available at www.census.gov/govs/www/estimate02.html.

The new Census data on state and local government finances also showed that New York's combined state and local taxes on individual income are more than twice the national average, as are corporate income taxes, on a per-capita basis. General sales taxes, per capita, were 11 percent higher in New York than nationally.

State and Local Taxes Per $1,000 Personal Income, 2002
Rank	State	Amt.		Rank	State	Amt.
1	NEW YORK	$131		27	Connecticut	$104
2	Maine	130		28	Alaska	103
3	Wyoming	122		29	Illinois	101
4	Hawaii	121		30	Nevada	101
5	Wisconsin	117		31	Pennsylvania	101
6	Rhode Island	114		32	Washington	101
7	Minnesota	113		33	Indiana	100
8	West Virginia	112		34	Georgia	100
9	New Mexico	111		35	North Carolina	100
10	Louisiana	111		36	Idaho	100
11	Ohio	111		37	Oklahoma	100
12	Vermont	111		38	Montana	98
13	Utah	108		39	Missouri	96
14	Nebraska	108		40	Massachusetts	96
15	Delaware	107		41	South Carolina	96
16	Kentucky	106		42	Texas	95
17	California	106		43	Virginia	95
18	North Dakota	105		44	Florida	94
19	Arizona	104		45	Colorado	92
20	Maryland	104		46	Oregon	91
21	New Jersey	104		47	South Dakota	90
22	Arkansas	104		48	Alabama	88
23	Mississippi	104		49	New Hampshire	85
24	Iowa	104		50	Tennessee	84
25	Michigan	104		U.S. average		$104
26	Kansas	104		N.Y.S. % above avg.		26%
Source: Public Policy Institute calculations from U.S. Census Bureau data
Dollar figures are rounded

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