Forty millionaires in New York have recently requested the governor to raise their taxes. This is a surprising move for the wealthy who are known for their overprotectiveness when it comes to their riches.
The request is not a joke since it comes from a group of prominent millionaires in New York State. They have written the governor, Andrew Cuomo, Democrat, and other high ranking lawmakers of the state, about their request to raise their taxes to help address poverty and rebuild failing infrastructure.
A copy of the letter given to the Associated Press suggests new and higher tax rates for the state's top 1 percent income earners. The letter went on to say that additional revenue is required to support homelessness, child poverty, aging roads, tunnels, bridges and waterlines.
The group, working in tandem with the left-leaning Fiscal Policy Institute and Responsible Wealth Project asked for a permanent tax on the rich which would replace an interim one.
"In the spirit of shared sacrifice, we, the undersigned, call for a balanced solution that includes maintaining, expanding, and making permanent the top marginal income tax rates for upper-income New Yorkers like us who can afford to pay more," said the millionaires in their letter that they sent to law makers in Albany on Monday.
Among the group of 40 are well-known names such as Abigail Disney, Steven C. Rockefeller, Lewis Cullman and Leo Hindery.
"As a businessman and philanthropist and as a citizen of New York State, I believe we need to invest in our people and our infrastructure," said Hindery, the managing partner of InterMedia Partners, a media industry private equity fund in a statement that accompanied the letter.
The group is supporting FPI's "1% Plan for New York Tax Fairness" which is asking for tax rates of 7.65 percent for certain tax brackets beginning at $665,000, the income limit for New Yorkers on the top income percentage where all the petitioners belong.
