ABSTRACT
New York has maintained a public sector between 25 and 50 percent above the national average and most of its neighbors. Real tax revenues in New York grew by 3.4 percent per year in the 1980s, well above the growth rates for the 1970s. Income taxes are the most important source of tax revenue for the New York state government and are an important tax source for New York City. It is difficult to separate the impacts of the corporate income tax from other business taxes. In 1988, the general sales tax accounted for 21 percent of state government tax revenue and 18 percent of local government revenues. Property taxes accounted for 23 percent of state and local revenue in New York in 1988 and 22 percent nationally. Real state and local government expenditures in New York grew by 3 percent per year from 1980 to 1988, significantly faster than in the 1970s.
