New York City, Big Business’s Ex-Mecca

BY PUBLISHER EMERITUS ARMAND MIELE

It used to be that in order to really make it, any big business had to have a presence in New York City. The city attitude became so arrogant that at one time, New York City actually threatened to secede from the state. Too bad it didn’t happen. It would be interesting, wouldn’t it, if New York City citizens had to pay all their own MTA taxes and other use taxes, not to mention all the liberal-backed city programs, for which all state citizens pay?

New York City has been destroying the rest of the state for a long time, due to the control exerted by liberal New York City judges and politicians to get the state to pay for city infrastructure and programs, including the dysfunctional city school system. New York City has created rules, regulations, everything to suit its own needs, and the state gets the bill. Liberal judges ordered the state to add $5 billion to the city school system—and that’s just the old news, from 2005. Imagine how much more it is today.

Homeowners across the state were socked for that $5 billion dollars, while city homeowners paid “zip.” Do I have to add again that we pay MTA taxes on our utility, telephone, and water bills; on our local sales tax; on home mortgages; and that after a New York corporation calculates its state income tax, it must pay 17% of that to the MTA?

Now, do you still think that New York City is a big business Mecca?

In Forbes’ most recent report on state business climates, New York ranked 46th for cost of doing business, and 22nd overall.

The Mercatus Center at George Mason University, which issues an annual report on Economic Freedom, had this to say about New York: “New York has by far the highest taxes in the country. Property, selective sales, individual income, and corporate-income taxes are particularly high. Spending on public welfare, hospitals, electric power, transit, employee retirement, ‘other and unallocable’ expenses are well above national norms.” (http://mercatus.org/freedom-50-states-2011/NY) New York ranks 50th, dead last in the nation, in economic freedom, due largely to astronomical taxes and overspending on public benefits.

Today, New York City is surviving only because of high taxes on corporations, the tourist trade, and the honest, middle-class, tax-paying residing in the rest of the state.

Here are some more facts on New York’s cost of doing business. Commercial users of electricity pay 43 percent more than elsewhere. Health insurance costs and worker’s compensation costs are 80 percent above the national average. While the nation as a whole saw an average growth of nearly 15 percent in taxpayer private employment, New York’s growth was less than seven percent. When manufacturing employment dipped nationally by 15 percent, that’s right, in New York it went down by 27 percent. The New York private employment sector job-growth lags far behind the national average. New York’s bread and butter “financial activities” sector fell 4.1 percent as the national average grew 17 percent. And more businesses are threatening to leave New York

New York State’s budget is $100 billion, with a $6 billion deficit. New York City alone has a deficit of $2 billion. Here we go again. Instead of cutting expenses, the city taxes its way out of problems, always finding ways to increase state funding. They just pass the buck. Expense goes from the City to the state. If the state could print money, New York City would get that too.

Need aid? Come to New York City. Our arms are wide open to help even illegal immigrants. We are known as the welfare state. Anyone unemployed seeking to remain so, any drug addict needing free drugs, anyone seeking handouts of any kind, we’ll offer you a monthly check. Don’t worry, we have millions of taxpayers in the state.

  New York City, rockland county