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Shocking: Raising Sales Tax Will Make NYers Spend Less!
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 24, 2009
Modified Mar 24, 2009
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By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 24, 2009
Modified Mar 24, 2009
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Upon news that Governor Paterson and other state lawmakers might raise the sales tax to deal with the state's huge deficit, WCBS 2 asked New Yorkers what they thought if the tax went over 9%. Naturally, the responses were things like "Oh no, this is ridiculous," "Everything is going up except salaries so that's not a good thing, especially in a recession," and "Of course it would definitely affect how much I bought." As for the rumored tax hike for those who make over $500,000, Mayor Bloomberg said, "51, 52 percent of our taxes come from people making $500,000 or more... Five thousand people back in 2006, it's probably a little more diverse today, but in 2006, 5,000 people paid 30 percent of the taxes in New York City.... If only 1,500 of that 5,000 people move to Connecticut, that would cut 10 percent of our tax base, that's another $3.5 billion." Photo: maria3bx on Flickr
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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