Gubernatorial candidate Larry Sharpe Responds to Governor Cuomo on Tax Reform Bill

Governor Cuomo,

In your statement on Saturday, you criticized the Republican Tax and Jobs plan for double taxing the citizens of New York by limiting or eliminating the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction, saying that New Yorkers are paying too much in taxes. I agree! New Yorkers are paying too much in taxes, it doesn’t have to be this way. Instead, let’s focus right here at home and put the federal government on a low-sodium diet by reducing the SALT in New York State!

New York has the highest state and local tax burden in the country, and our spending is out of control. Let’s talk about the ways you are burdening the people of New York.

Income tax in the state of NY is 8.82%, on top of a more than 3% personal income tax for anyone who earns their money in New York City. More than 600,000 people come INTO the city to work every day, which means they are paying New York City income taxes in addition to state income taxes, and their own local taxes mandated by wherever they commute from. We are penalizing more than half a million commuters for working in the city.

Then our state imposes a 4% sales tax on personal, tangible property such as furniture, art, and even light fixtures, as well as services for things like interior design or computer processing. Add to that the local municipal sales taxes, particularly in New York City where beautician services, gyms, and even hair braiding are hit with an additional sales tax simply for doing business in the city (Not to mention arbitrary licensing fees). The list of things that are subject to these taxes is as long as the Hudson! The state of New York is actively dictating and taxing the minutiae of people’s daily lives and personal interactions.

Property taxes are among the highest in the nation and the 2% tax cap is a smoke screen of fake compassion. A municipality can simply vote to surpass the tax cap, while a school district must fall within the parameters of a convoluted, two-page formula that is nearly impossible to understand, let alone qualify for, those tax rates can, and often do come closer to 3% and as high as 5%, depending on the capital projects and proposed budgets of our local schools.

School taxes represent about 60% of our property tax bills, again, the highest in the country. We are spending nearly $20,000 per student, per year, 85% higher than the national average, yet we are only ranked #19 in the country for education? We aren’t seeing the benefits of these taxes in our school systems. Where are all of our tax dollars going, governor?

The cost of living in the state of New York is so outrageous that we are seeing the highest numbers of emigration out of all 50 states. Citizens are leaving our state in droves because they cannot afford the tax burden. The average American income is $55,775 per year, while the average income for citizens of New York is $60,850. That is a difference of 9.1%. However, the average cost of living in New York is between 28% and 39% higher than the national average. How can you expect the people of New York to survive, let alone thrive, under these economic conditions?

The national average for the state and local tax burden is 9.9%, while New York sees a state and local tax burden of 12.7%. I repeat, the highest tax burden in the country! And what do we have to show for it? We do not have the best schools, we do not have the best health care, we do not have the best anything, but for all that money, we should.

Governor, your words imply that you empathize with your constituents, but your lack of action to create any form of relief for us, the citizens of New York, prove that you will change nothing, blame the republicans, and use that as a way to prove that you need to be the President in order to fix this broken system. You will use this crisis as an opportunity to build your platform for 2020, taking care of yourself rather than the people of New York, the ones you’re leaving behind.

The only way New Yorkers can feel relief from these tax burdens is by cutting the outrageous spending in the state that has produced zero positive outcomes. By cutting spending, the state and local tax burden will naturally be reduced, because we won’t have the need to bleed ourselves dry in order to survive all of the spending you’ve created.

As a lifelong New Yorker and business owner of 13 years, I know first-hand the strain that these taxes put on individuals and small businesses. This is why I am running for governor in 2018. To stop the spending. To cut state and local taxes. You have forgotten the people of New York, with your eye on the White House. I have not. To fight this “double taxation,” as you called it, we must first look at ourselves.

End the state income tax. Let the people of New York invest their earnings in their communities, innovate, and build new business. As it stands right now, we are one giant SALT block for the federal government. So let’s put them on a Low-Sodium Diet and keep our dollars in our own pockets.

To a Better Future,

Larry Sharpe