ALBANY— New York is a leader in high taxes and spending but lags the nation in most economic growth categories. That is the finding of “Unique New York”, a new service of the Public Policy Institute of New York State (PPI), the research affiliate of The Business Council of New York State, Inc.
“Unique New York” is available here. It tracks 21 standard indicators of economic performance. Unfortunately, in most metrics New York State's performance is dismal.
“The message is clear -- New York must reduce spending and lower taxes to become competitive and allow the economy to create jobs,” said Kenneth Adams, president and CEO of The Business Council of New York State. “Upstate New York has been especially hard hit by Albany's misguided tax and spend policies.”
Personal income growth in upstate, defined as all counties outside the MTA region, lags all states but Ohio and Michigan.
Population growth upstate ranks behind all states and the District of Columbia.
But in virtually every measure of taxing and spending New York is among the highest. For example: State and Local Personal Income Tax Per-Capita (US Rank: 1); Cost of Electricity (US Rank: 2); State and Local Spending Per-Capita (US Rank: 4).
The Business Council has shared these findings in a letter to state legislators available here.
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