Report: Wealthy Taxpayers Are Fleeing California

Wealthy taxpayers are fleeing California, hurting the economy and the budgets of the governments that have raised the cost of living in the Golden State.

That’s according to the Los Angeles Times, which reported Tuesday that while wealthy and talented people used to move into California, that trend has recently been reversed:

The reversal, largely in response to the state’s high taxes and soaring cost of living, has begun to damage California’s overall economy. And, by cutting into tax revenues, has delivered punishing blows to state and local governments.

State budget analysts recently projected a record $68-billion deficit in the next fiscal year because of a 25% drop in personal income tax collection in 2023. Some city, county and other local taxing authorities, particularly in the San Francisco Bay Area, have also recorded revenue declines.

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The accelerating exodus from California in recent years, of both companies and people, has been well documented. The pandemic-induced rise in remote work, inflated housing prices and changing social conditions have spurred more Californians to pull up stakes.

California largely avoided a flight of wealthy taxpayers after Gov. Jerry Brown (D) raised taxes nearly a decade-and-a-half ago. Proposition 30, which made his “temporary” tax cuts permanent, also passed without causing an exodus — though middle-class families continued to leave.

But poor governance, including a rise in crime, has convinced many wealthy taxpayers that they are no longer receiving value for money — and that they may be targets.

Notably, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) dodged a question in last month’s debate against Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) of Florida about why Americans are generally fleeing liberal “blue” states for conservative “red” ones. Instead, Newsom made the dubious claim that more Floridians (per capita) are moving to California than the reverse.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.