New York’s population growth rate has been slacking, and State Sen. Joseph Griffo believes that lack of growth can be directly attributed to taxes and regulations.
“Our population, in my opinion, leaves because they’re over-taxed. We over-regulate and mandate and the energy costs are too high,” Griffo, is quoted as saying in the Utica Observer-Dispatch. “So it’s difficult for people to afford to live in this state and for businesses to [be] able to be profitable in this state. Until we have a significant overhaul of taxes and regulations and mandates and focus on lowering our energy costs, then we’ll continue to face a significant challenge here.”
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, over a year-period ending in July 2017, the 50 counties in Upstate New York lost 3,596 residents. Combined with some growth downstate, the state has seen an increase of 13,113 in population in 2016-17, and the state has grown by 471,297 people since the 2010 Census. Although there has been some growth, New York’s numbers are less than half of the national average growth of 5.5 percent, according to Empire Center research used by the Observer-Dispatch.
“My concern is that we’re not going far enough, fast enough,” Griffo is quoted as saying. “I understand that at some point you have to compete with other states, so there’s going to be some type of public investment, but overall, until we have a dramatic change in policy, then we’re not going to see real results that we want. … We need to do it quickly and dramatically.”
According to a Politifact article citing the Tax Foundation, New York residents spend on average 12.7 percent of their income on state and local taxes, as of 2012. This makes the state’s taxes the highest burden in the nation.
The Tax Foundation also ranked the state as the second highest in the nation for the amount of all state and local taxes collected per capita in 2016. That includes income, sales, and corporate taxes.
“Looking at all of the available metrics, some of this is of course driven by New York being a relatively high-income state,” John Buhl, a spokesperson for the Tax Foundation, is quoted as saying by Politifact. “Nevertheless, by most measures, New York is one of the highest taxed states in the country.”
