According to the Tax Foundation, Colorado residents pay an astonishing 9.1% of their income to state and local governments. This still after the TABOR amendment has slightly slowed the growth of government for the last few years.
It's even worse elsewhere. The national average is 10%, so Colorado is actually one of the lower taxed states. Alaska averages 6.3%, which almost makes that climate worthwhile.
New York weighs in at 12.9%. That makes them very proud, I'm sure. Hey New Yorkers, do you think you have the best local government in the Union? 'Cuz you sure are paying for it.
See the entire list of states and their tax rates here.
Posted by Walter at April 9, 2004 09:40 AMWe're lucky about TABOR, though. It really is our only hope of containing the growth of government--and politicians really do need to be on the shortest leash we can give them.
Posted by: zombyboy at April 9, 2004 10:58 AMIt's worth noting that NY pays far more billions of dollars in tax money to the federal government than it receives in return. This has to occur with several states, naturally, to support the poorer states. But other states do have something to be grateful for to NYers and citizens of other heavily taxed states.
Posted by: Gary Farber at April 11, 2004 04:59 PM