Where have we heard this before? Who said people will move out and head to places where they pay lower taxes? It’s happening in New York, New York. This is the story:
New York State is giving away the goose that laid the golden egg — its highest-earning taxpayers.
Last week, an analysis by Bloomberg’s Justin Fox showed that the flight of affluent taxpayers and the end of the market bull run has caused state personal income tax receipts to fall below their pre-pandemic 2019 level.
This should ring alarm bells in Albany, as State Operating Fund spending, comprising most state-funded operating activities, is about $25 billion higher in the recently enacted budget than it was in FY 2019–20. As monthly tax collections fall short and fiscal reality bites into these spending commitments, public leaders will be forced to confront (and correct) a hard reality: New York has become a less attractive place to live.