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News
Dowling College Study Reveals Long Island Taxpayers Give More Than They Get: State Aid To Long Island Short By $11.6 Billion
Roundtable Discussion To Be Held On Friday, November 14th
As requested by Suffolk County Comptroller Joseph Sawicki, Jr., the Dowling College Long Island Economic and Social Policy Institute (LIESP) has prepared a study showing that between 2002 and 2006 Long Island taxpayers sent to Albany $11.6 billion more than they received in state aid. Comptroller Sawicki made his request at the LIESPs March 28, 2008 Roundtable for Long Islands Future, during which he noted that past reports have indicated that Long Island is New York States cash cow.
LIESP Director Martin Cantor said "the study's findings are consistent with previous studies and that over the past ten years, Long Island taxpayers gave to Albany $25 billion more than they received in state aid, sapping the Long Island of more than $60 billion of economic activity."
Cantor, citing the 5-year $11.6 billion State aid shortfall to Long Island said, "this inequity has cost Long Island households of $12,292 of sorely needed discretionary income, depriving the region of nearly $29 billion of economic activity or $30,730 per household."
"It's not that Long Islanders won't contribute to the States financial health," Cantor noted, "but what occurs is that our tax dollars consistently are reallocated to the upstate region of which it is argued needs more help than Long Island. In 2007, The Buffalo Federal Reserve Bank branch said that this is not the case by showing that private sector employment upstate had been growing at a 0.5 percent rate, the same as Long Islands private sector employment growth. Apparently the transfer of $25 billion of Long Island taxpayer dollars has not benefited the upstate economy."
Cantor concluded "as Governor Patterson looks for $2 billion to cut from the State budget, he should discontinue the practice of viewing Long Island as New York States cash cow. For New York States economy to prosper, a strong Long Island economy is crucial; something that may prove elusive if the practice of transferring Long Islands economic activity elsewhere continues."
About Dowling College
Dowling College is an independent, coeducational college that serves more than 6,500 students at
its historic Rudolph Campus on the banks of the Connetquot River in Oakdale, NY, and the 105-acre
Brookhaven Campus in eastern Long Island and a business center located near the Nassau-Suffolk
border in Melville. Dowling offers Bachelor′s, Master′s, and Doctoral degrees in several
disciplines through its four schools: Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Education.
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