Study: $1B in taxable income left R.I. from 1995 to 2008

Public officials and economic-development experts have long said that Rhode Island’s policies have driven away talented people, and with them, their taxable income. But exactly how much money has left the state?
According to a new report by the Ocean State Policy Research Institute, roughly $1 billion in taxable income left the state’s borders between 1995 and 2008. Total lost revenue was about $540 million during that time frame.
Warmer states with favorable tax policies and low levels of union membership were popular spots to relocate to, according to the report. Far and away, Florida was the most popular destination for migrants and offers the added bonus of no estate tax, eliminated there in 2004.
The report said that the rate of people migrating from Rhode Island accelerated around that time, with almost $900 million of all the $1 billion in income lost due to migration happened after 2004. The report said that more than $400 million of that income went to Florida.
North Carolina, Virginia, Florida and Texas rounded out the top 5 of states Rhode Islander’s migrated to.
Additionally, the institute found:
&#8226 Rhode Island lost a net of 107,086 residents to other states between 1991 and 2009 – about one in 10 current residents.
&#8226 Between 1995 and 2007, total net income (in-migration minus out-migration) leaving the state averaged $78.4 million every year, translating into a total loss of more than $1 billion. Had that income stayed in the state, local governments would have collected an average of $9.11 million each year.
&#8226 From 1995 to 2007 Rhode Island collected $341.3 million from the estate tax. In 2008 – the most recent year the study looked at – the state only collected $27 million.
So how to reverse this trend? A more favorable tax policy should help, the report’s authors said, adding the estate tax needs to go. &#8226