Per USAToday, July 10, 2008 (Page 2A), the top 10 cities with more than 100,000 residents LOSING population from 2000 to 2007 are:

• Cleveland, OH
• Flint, MI
• Pittsburgh
• Buffalo (down 6.8%)
• Dayton, OH
• Hialeah, FL
• Toledo, OH
• Rochester, NY (down 5.9%)
  
• Birmingham, AL
• Syracuse, NY (down 5.0%)

Do you think that property taxes played a significant role? Job losses are a casualty of high taxes and when the jobs leave…the people move. Retirees move to locations with lower taxes.

A more hidden effect of this propulation loss is that the people who are leaving are those with OPTIONS. They tend to be residents with skills, education and financial means.

Another effect is that these people paid taxes…property, income and sales taxes. With 5.9% of the Rochester population gone, the governmental and school tax burden does NOT go down. It is simply re-distributed to those of us that are STILL HERE!

Three western NY cities with top 10 population loss? Not a good sign for our economic future!