Reclaim New York
SYRACUSE, NY – Families in Central New York have seen economic struggles, high poverty rates, and an exodus of residents. Shedding new light on the causes of these trends, Reclaim New York today (July 19) released a breakthrough study that takes a personal look at the financial challenges residents are facing.
Reclaim’s new Affordability Crisis Report covers Onondaga, Oswego, Madison, Cayuga, and Seneca counties. The analysis shows how taxes and basic expenses leave residents across nearly all income levels struggling to make ends meet, let alone save.
The report’s methodology goes down to the school district level to provide the most local, personal look at how taxes, and regulations affect the bottom lines of New York families.
You can see Oswego specifically here: https://www.reclaimnewyork.org/central-newyork-affordability/?mc_cid=e4ee9868c0&mc_eid=66c975ee1a
“Families across Central New York need more economic opportunity. But our report shows that what they’re actually getting is an affordability crisis driven by a long list of taxes and regulations. This is government driving the cost of living up, not down,” said Reclaim New York Executive Director Brandon Muir. “Working and middle-class families are hurting as Albany adds to the problem instead of offering relief. Economic policies that reward political insiders and pit regions against each other aren’t the answer, and leave families questioning whether they should stay.”
For the first time, Reclaim calculates the real “Wake-Up Cost” for Central New York residents by combining income, property, sales, and excise taxes with basic living expenses. Reclaim’s model analyzes multiple income levels along with a comprehensive set of primary data sources to show citizens exactly where their money is going, and why the region is still struggling.
“It’s awful to see people work so hard and yet keep so little after the taxes and expenses they must pay just because they live here,” said Reclaim’s Central New York Regional Director John Byrne. “Our report provides a stark picture of the personal impact of poor policies from Albany that are simply crushing people and businesses from Syracuse to Auburn to Oswego.”
New Yorkers pay nearly 200 different taxes, levied by more than 3,000 government entities. These factors drive some of the highest property taxes in the nation, the worst tax burden in the country, and second-highest cost of living.
“State lawmakers, and the Governor, may like to talk about an improving upstate economy, but the facts tell a different story,” said Muir. “The affordability crisis is bad already, and will get worse if citizens and public officials don’t work to relieve the pressure from the costly policies driving it.”
Muir added, “People continue to leave every county analyzed in our report. This is the devastating effect of the affordability crisis. That’s why Reclaim New York will engage residents across the region to help make the state more affordable for everyone.”
Key Findings of the Report Include:
Middle-class families in Onondaga County are left with little to nothing after paying just their “Wake Up Costs” of taxes and basic expenses. They can’t save.
In Syracuse, a family of four, making the area’s median income of $47,219 is left with only 2 percent of that, just $1,102. That is not enough to handle extra expenses like childcare, additional healthcare expenses, or simply a vacation.
Even a family making twice that, double the median income, $94,438, can’t outrun their massive tax burden. A whopping 32 percent of their income is consumed by taxes – leaving them with only 4 percent of their annual earnings.
Recent graduates face a tough road if they stay in the Salt City. At the national average starting salary of $48,707 for grads working in their focus area, and with no dependents, they have lighter expenses. Still, they see taxes and basic expenses chew up 88 percent of their income.
A family in the town of Onondaga, earning the local median income of $43,638 annually, is left with just $1,174 after taxes and expenses. That is less than 3 percent of their earnings they have left to face any additional expenses, or emergencies.
In the village of Camillus, a median income-earning family makes $70,245 per year. Even with a higher income than many surrounding areas, this family will end up with just 4 percent ($2,816) after taxes and essentials.
In Oswego County, a middle-class family in the city of Oswego, making the median income of $49,575 per year is left with nothing after paying for New York’s heavy tax burden. They will go into the red, and cannot afford to live in the area without cutting basics.
Even at $99,150, double the median income, a family of four in Oswego struggles to save. They’re left with just 5 percent after taxes and basics.
Why do young people struggle to make it here, or move back in with their parents?
Even though they have no dependents, at a national average starting salary of $48,707 for grads working in their field of study, they’ll be left with only 16 percent after “Wake Up Costs.”
A family in the town of Hannibal, earning the local median income of $49,205 annually, will go into the red after taxes and expenses by 1 percent. They must turn to credit cards or cut basics. They are financially unstable.
In Madison County, a median income-earning family in Oneida makes $47,351 per year. Taxes and basic expenses eat up the vast majority of that, leaving them with just $1,614. That’s simply not enough to handle additional expenses like child care, or an emergency, and forget a vacation.
In Hamilton, a middle-class family, making the median income of $65,815 will spend 98 percent of it on taxes and basics.
In the village of Chittenango, a family of four can’t build a future even when making twice the median income. They see a $128,196 income largely consumed by taxes and expenses, leaving them with just 7 percent.
In Cayuga County, in the city of Auburn, a family of four, making the median income, earns $47,219 per year. They have just 3.4 percent of that left after their “Wake Up Cost” eats up over 96 percent.
Taxes, and expenses scale up for a similar family that earns double the median income in Auburn. They lose 96 percent of their $94,438 income to these “Wake Up Costs.” They are still not financially stable, and able to reliably save for retirement or a college fund.
A family in Port Byron making the $45,917 median income goes into the red by $493 after taxes and basis. They must turn to credit cards, or cut basics to survive.
At double the median income in Locke, a family of four still struggles. They have to spend 94 percent of their $133,612 income just to live there, thanks to the high cost of basic expenses and taxes.
In Seneca County, a family of four earning the median income of $48,665 in Waterloo, has just $120 to their name after taxes and buying the basics. They have to cut back, or turn to credit cards, and are at risk if any emergency expenses come up.
A double median income-earning family in Ovid still struggles. They make $91,484, but are left with just 4 percent after their “Wake Up Cost.” Saving for a college fund, or retirement, will be difficult.
A family earning the median income in Seneca Falls will see all of their $48,665 salary consumed by their taxes and necessities. They will go into the red.
A recent graduate here, earning the national average starting salary, $48,707, for someone working in their area of study, has only 16 percent left after taxes and basics. They have no dependents, but still have too little to build a future.
Reclaim will host trainings in the region to help residents better understand the causes of the affordability crisis and potential solutions. This is Reclaim’s fifth regional report on New York’s affordability crisis, and first project focused on Central New York counties.
Find more in-depth information, and Reclaim New York’s full Affordability Crisis Report at ReclaimNewYork.org/Central-NewYork-Affordability.
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Liberal govt idealogy at work. Thank Papa Cuomo, his successors, and now Jr. Tax you to death then make you dependent on govt which then guarantees a vote next election to keep the support coming. Makes you wonder why people turn to crime to make ends meet.
It took this long for anyone to come to this conclusion! This was a great study but what will be done about it, NOTHING, except more taxes !!
All you have to do is look at the price of a pack of cigarettes in NYS as a perfect example. Sure, that’s a matter of choice, but it’s easy to make comparisons like that compared to other states. Increased taxes equals less disposable income,.. so there you have it folks.
“Reclaim will host trainings in the region to help residents better understand the causes of the affordability crisis and potential solutions.” – Here’s a fine solution: Just move to another state. Especially if you are a renter. You can do that everywhere. Property owners? It will take a little longer until you find a buyer or…a renter.
Well, the local government here in the city of Oswego can help by telling the DEC to go pound salt & bankrupting that outrageous consent decree which annihilates all residual income to the point of not being able to even eat right or at all at times!!!!!!! It’s high time to not only get out of Oswego but New York in general then you’ll see it all collapse on short order! What will they do then? Tax air?
This is the primary reason why I decided to sell my home and retired out of state seven years ago.The best decision I ever made and haven’t looked back or regretted the decision. If New York State (NYS) could find a way to tax the air you breathe, it would. Thank goodness NYS no longer has its hands in my pocket/money.
Keep voting in Democrat’s & RINO’S you get what you deserve but don’t worry about losing good neighbors moving out of NYS there are plenty of sex offenders & other paroled criminals coming in to take their place.
Reclaim NewYork, despite it’s own assertion of being “non-partisan,” is a right-wing organization, “A nonprofit group tied to hedge funder Robert Mercer …
Reclaim New York, a 501(c)(3) with connections to several prominent Republicans, was established in 2013 …”
see this article from 2015: http://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2015/05/conservative-nonprofit-plans-to-expand-statewide-presence-022325
but we have a bunch of comments above from Republicans/conservatives lambasting “liberal government.”
Hey folks, inequality being at its worst levels since the 1920’s is not a result of “liberal government.” All the problems within NY state are a result of what Bernie Sanders has called “the destruction of the American Middle Class.” We are all strained economically because of the wealth/income that has gone to the Top One Percent. Wall Street is in NY state; they’re doing just fine economically.
We need Single Payer national healthcare, redistribution of wealth and income to benefit the many (not the few), shifting the tax burden to the wealthy instead of the crumbling middle/working class.
Electing Republicans who are intent on exacerbating inequality, destroying the environment so corporations can maximize profits, and spending even more obscene amounts of money on the military is not going to raise the living standards for working Americans, in New York or anywhere.
* check out Robert Mercer’s connections with Trump if you’re unaware.
The public employee unions are already in motion on this one:
– M’s comment above, saying that the report comes from a “right wing” organization and, therefore, must be a lie. (It isn’t and we all know it.)
-M’s comment again, trying to shift emphasis to inequality. (That’s not the issue and we all know it.)
– While claiming it is a lie in public, they will use it in contract negotiations. It will go something like this: “It’s criminal that our public servants can’t afford to live where they work.” (More, more, more. We want more.)
re: M….Most of the “tax and spend policies” both created and adopted by liberal politicians ARE a direct example of the so called “redistribution of wealth” that you are talking about. It’s not a wealth issue that’s “causing the problem” as much as it’s people like yourself who expect everyone else to take care of their various problems for them. A little money for this program here, a little more for this program there, it all adds up and has to come from somewhere. In other words, somebody has to pay for “free college”, free this and free that or whatever the case may be. As a result, it comes out of ALL taxpayers pockets. Your insinuation that only wealthy people should pay for these things (or more) is ludicrous. That’s like expecting someone who makes more money to have to pay more for a loaf of bread. Furthermore, you never seem to be able to answer any of the questions I present to you, exposing the faults in your various arguments.
The taxes/fees on cigarettes are because so many NYers smoke that it would bankrupt medicaid were it not from some relief through this tax. No one needs to smoke, although I have sympathy for those addicted through extraordinary acts by the manufacturers that gave “free cigarettes’ away back in the day at the State Fair or the military (do they still do that?), and why I believe the manufacturers should pay quite a bit more for this.
That tax on cigarettes and soda should not impact those who choose neither of these ‘vices.’ I know this is a controversial topic, and has been for fifty years. Who would believe soda would be a vice, but it turns out that it has become so bad for our health, you can count it as one. And, one soda removes rust from metal, so you can see it could be. The other drives up diabetes risk, as well as liver/kidney and heart issues. Who would have thought?! Someday there may be ads as scary as those from Philip Morris for cigarettes, but not yet. Too big a lobby.
Vehicle owners pay for the upkeep of the roads (well until the State absconds with that fee for the general fund), so smokers and drinkers need to do their part in defraying their ‘choices’ to enjoy these items.
re: annonymous,…Well, while that may be true, drunk driving is also raising the cost of medical care as well as car repair and car insurance. I don’t see the same tax increases going on there, so maybe they should consider higher taxes on those products as well, by your view.
Yes, the democrats have ruined the state with all their taxes, rules and regulations. I use to think the party was socialism at best, but now have changed my mind to say they are more like communism than socialism. Think about it. They control you by forcing you to buy only Obama Care insurance, they impose heavy taxes on you, they kill babies in the womb, they don’t want you to own guns, and they prevent you from mentioning the name of God because they want to be a god to all of you who keep pulling the lever for them. When will you ever learn? Time to repent from your evil deeds.
Good god…did it take a study to reveal this? I make above the per say “median wage” in NYS, and I cannot feed and clothe my 2 children on the $500 I have left after all of the bills are paid. I’ve chosen to work my tail off all of my life and this is where it finds me….
Re: “people like yourself who expect everyone else to take care of their various problems for them.”
No, it’s just some humans see themselves as members of a community. Governments are instituted for such purposes, in our Constitution “to promote the general welfare.”
Due to inequality, the worst since before the Great Depression, the general welfare has taken quite a hit over the past 40 years.
Health care is just one obvious field where inequality has produced social misery. For all of us to come together, join much of the rest of the world, and institute a Single Payer universal health program, would begin the reversal of that trend. For some reason, perhaps one of the board’s Republicans could explain, the GOP and their supporters want to continue living in a world of premiums, co-pays, deductibles, insurance companies, and a for-profit health system which is really great if you’re a member of the Top One Percent but not if you’re among the other 99 percent of the population.
But inequality, of course, is the issue. The middle/working classes of this country have been assaulted for 40 years in an effort to make the rich richer and more politically dominant. CEO pay, money stashed in overseas tax havens, huge Republican tax cut measures that have benefited the very richest citizens (and cut services/programs for everybody else), outsourcing, etc.
As far as the “we know it” remarks above, Reclaim New York is a billionaire-funded right-wing group. That’s just a statement of empirical fact. Inequality isn’t the issue? Of course it is (Donald Trump and Ronald Mercer don’t want you to see it that way and citizens like Z and the Wizard oblige the billionaire class). The article is about the economic realities we all face given this rising, perhaps unprecedented, inequality. If every American had free health care it would revolutionize our quality of life. No more bankruptcies, ruined lives, or denied care due to inability to pay. It would settle what remains such a huge source of anxiety, fear, insecurity for our people.
When Wall Street and large financial institutions nearly crash the global economy in 2007/2008 and wreck the economic security of millions of people, it’s hard to fathom how conservatives can get on boards like this and blame the victims! Blame the people on SNAP, Medicaid, temporary assistance, the victims of capitalism/inequality!
If corporate capitalism is going to continue to concentrate wealth and political power in fewer and fewer hands, then there are going to be masses of Americans in need of social services through no fault of their own. It’s the capitalist system and oligarchic politics which is determining these things, not “lazy” or otherwise deficient individual Americans.
If, on the other hand, we defeat oligarchy (electing Bernie Sanders in 2020 would be the most direct way to do that), then we can begin rebuilding the lives of the many (not the few) and eliminating the socioeconomic conditions which has led to the realities described above.