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Posted: Tuesday, 19 May 2009 7:49AM
Golisano Blames Paterson on Taxes; Personal Move To Florida
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B.Thomas Golisano, the owner of the Buffalo Sabres is placing the blame for his move out of New York State, squarely at the feet of Governor David Paterson, decryingthe governor's budget in general and taxes in particular.
Golisano, a billionaire who recently moved his residence to Florida , spoke of the move with New York Post Albany Editor Fred Dicker Monday on WGJD Radio in Albany, saying that Paterson's budget was a turning point, and something that Paterson alone has responsibility for.
"I blame him for not standing up to the Legislature and saying, 'We can't do this.' Yes, I do blame him. Yeah. I'll take it one step further. He's disconnected me from my family, from my friends, my business associates. He's doing that to everybody who leaves the state. Nobody wants to leave New York. Just economically it makes so much sense to leave it, and that's because of the irresponsible government we've had," Golisano said.
Moving to a state without a personal income tax will save Golisano at least $5 million a year, or $13,800 a day.
That amount could go a long way even in New York. The $131.8 billion budget adopted in April included removing $5 million by reducing the hours of many state parks and historic sites, setting a hiring freeze and consolidating services.
The 67-year-old billionaire businessman, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1994, 1998 and 2002, has long complained that New York's taxes are too high and its government too warped by special interests.
A Ross Perot-inspired independent who co-founded the state's Independence Party, Golisano spent $75 million, almost all of it his own, on his third failed bid for governor on that party's line in 2002.
But now that lawmakers have decided to increase taxes this year on wealthy New Yorkers, Golisano's decided to change his legal residency to a Naples, Fla., condominium. The New York tax rate for anyone earning more than $500,000 goes from 6.85 percent to 8.97 percent.
Founder of Paychex Inc., a payroll-processing company that earned him super-rich status, Golisano said he expects to keep a home near Rochester but might sell a summer retreat in the nearby Finger Lakes region.
To qualify as a Florida resident for tax purposes, Golisano has to live there at least 184 days a year _ ruling out the prospect of him running for New York governor in 2010.
According to the state constitution, no person shall be eligible to become governor who is not a resident for "five years next preceding the election."
"The question turns on what is a definition of residency, and I would presume if he's purposefully establishing residency in another state, then he is no longer resident in New York," said Gerald Benjamin, a political science professor and former dean at the State University of New York at New Paltz.
"It strikes me in two ways: One, I regret it because he's a vigorous and energetic and engaged citizen," Benjamin said. "Second, it's a statement on the consequence of our tax policies for retaining people of this sort, people who are affluent and engaged."
In 2004, Golisano stepped down as chief executive of Paychex to devote more time to political and philanthropic endeavors. He has donated more than $100 million to schools, hospitals and centers for the developmentally disabled as well as showering donations on state Legislature candidates seeking to reverse New York's chronic overspending and overtaxing.
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