Yorkers Flee for Greener Pastures // John Hinderaker

It is well-known that people are moving steadily away from blue states to red states. Yet, these figures from New York were still shocking to me.

A new analysis of cities shows that a large portion of high-income earners fled the country in 2020. …

According to the city’s Independent Budget Office, there was a 10% drop in taxes for taxpayers earning more than $750,000 and 6% for those earning between $150,000- $750,000.

This is a shocking statistic: New York City’s highest-income earners fled the state in one year, as did 6 per cent of those with moderately higher incomes. In just one year! New York’s tax policies cannot be sustained, it is evident. While the 2020 exodus was partly covid-driven, is there any chance that many tax refugees will return to New York? No.

What does it take for liberals to accept the fact that their tax base is disappearing?

[T]he radicals that are increasingly dominating local politics want to slam others who haven’t left more: Last Monday, a group composed of advocates and elected officials launched an absurd $40 Billion tax on the rich.

New York cannot afford to lose more taxpayers with high incomes.

[T]he top 1 percent of taxpayers accounted to 45% of the total income tax liability for the city in 2020; they are the most sensitive to high taxes. (The bottom 50% contributed less than 4%.

This pattern is universal: The “rich” pay taxes to support the rest of us. The 2020 numbers, as bad as they may be, are likely a sign of worse things to come.

[T]he mass exodus occurred before progressives at Albany increased state taxes by $4Billion in 2021, punishing mainly top-income New Yorkers who have the highest state and local taxes in the country. How many other high-earning individuals have left or will leave since then?

Yes, you can bring on the new taxes. There are still lots of properties for sale in Florida.