National Desk
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
WASHINGTON
STATE TAX BURDENS JUMP ACROSS THE COUNTRY
State taxpayer burdens increased by an average of 41% from 1994 to 2004, according to newly released data from the Census Bureau. Only one state, Alaska, saw the amount it collects per person decline.
Even when the numbers are adjusted for inflation, the individual tax burdens increase in 43 states. Hawaiians last year paid the most to state government – $3,050 a person on average. Texans paid the least – an average of $1,368. The big range in state taxes reflects the variety of government revenue systems throughout the country. The numbers do not include local taxes, which in many states generate most of the money for schools. They also do not include federal taxes.
Wyoming, Connecticut, Minnesota, and Delaware round out the top five states in tax receipts per person. South Dakota, Colorado, New Hampshire, and Alabama round out the bottom five. New York ranks 11th with an average state tax of $2,377 a person, almost a 32% increase from 1994.
New Hampshire had the biggest increase from 1994 to 2004, with the state tax burden more than doubling. But at $1,544 per person, it remained among the lowest in the country.
– Associated Press
INTERIOR PROPOSES OPENING EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO AREA TO DRILLING
The government plans to open a large area of the eastern Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas leasing despite strong opposition from Florida officials.
The Interior Department’s leasing proposal released yesterday would encompass more than two-thirds of an area known as Lease 181, while continuing to ban oil and gas development in waters within 100 miles of the Florida coast. President Bush in 2001 assured Florida officials, including his brother, Governor Jeb Bush, that the Lease 181 area would be protected at least through this year. The new proposal, expected to become final early next year, would cover the 2007-12 leasing period. Separately, the department expressed continued interest in possibly opening waters off Virginia to gas drilling. Congress would have to come up with an arrangement whereby the state would seek permission to develop the offshore area. It is now part of a broad freeze on coastal drilling.
– Associated Press
