NEWS RELEASE

NEW CENSUS DATA SHOW NEW YORK LEADS
IN STATE AND LOCAL TAXES, WITH TOTAL OVER $100 BILLION

ALBANY—New York once again leads the nation in combined state and local taxes, and the total burden is now over $100 billion, the latest authoritative data from the U.S. Census Bureau show.

The data for fiscal 2004, released today by the Census Bureau, put New York’s per-capita tax burden at $5,260, 53 percent above the national average of $3,447. Connecticut’s tax burden, the second-highest in the nation, was $339 per person lower than New York's.

That adds up to a total additional tax burden of $34 billion on New Yorkers, compared to what they would have paid 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.

New York’s per capita property tax burden was fifth highest in the nation at $1,677 in taxes levied by local governments. That was 60 percent higher than the national average of $1,049.

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 was $11,377 for every state resident, the fifth-heaviest debt burden in the nation, and 71 percent above the national average.

The Institute analyzed new data posted on the Census Bureau Web site May 31. The Census data, which include detailed financial figures for each state, are available at www.census.gov/govs/www/estimate04.html.