A new report out from the Rockefeller Institute of Government at SUNY Albany reveals more about the upstate-downstate divide in the New York State budget. The conclusion: upstate regions are reaping the rewards of their wealthy neighbors in New York City.
The report titled, "Giving and Getting" examines just that. It looks at tax revenues and expenditures from the 2009-2010 State Budget. And the bottom line is that downstate gives much more in state taxes than it gets back, and upstate areas get much more than they give.
Bob Ward is the deputy director of the Rockefeller Institute, "We in upstate New York really do depend more and more each year on the economic activity generated on Wall Street."
Ward added that upstate New York received 12 billion dollars more in payouts than it gave in taxes during that fiscal year.
Click on the audio player above to listen to this story from WXXI Innovation Trail reporter Marie Cusick. You can find more stories about the innovation economy on the Innovation Trail website.