Funding fairness: A high-end Personal Income Tax
Read the Temporary PIT proposal Fact Sheet here.
(2008) In order to attain fiscal stability without negatively affecting the state economy, New York should implement a permanent progressive tax reform. The State’s short term needs are obvious. In the long term, the revenues involved can be used to protect the State’s important educational, healthcare commitments while addressing the pressing need for property tax relief and reform, without squeezing other parts of the state budget.
Rather than increase the burden on the middle class, the State should take this opportunity to restore progressivity to its tax structure. The State must fulfill its commitment to educational equity, maintain vital services, and forego any further cuts that would threaten the middle and lower class.
Impact
High-end PIT cuts have led to a monumental tax shift. To compensate for lost state revenue, New York has increased the burden on local governments to provide essential services through increased property and sales taxes. New York State, in fact, has the second highest proportion of local taxes in the entire nation. Nationally, the share of total general revenue contributed by localities is 40 percent, and states, 60 percent. In New York, that proportion is reversed—localities produce 54 percent of general revenues, and the State, 46 percent.
