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The idea that all 8 million New Yorkers shoulder an equal share of the tax burden or, indeed, that everyone chips in at all is... quaint.
The more correct assessment is what other things could have been done with $1.8 billion.
And what second-order effects might there be from showing that the city will make massive payments to literally under-qualified workers rather than defend a lawsuit.
Or what happens if more of those high-earners who pay most of the taxes decide to move away.
Adding to your comment from a linked article:
NYC has 3.8M city income tax payers
Average burden to each of the 41k top 1%: $18,000
Average burden to each of the 410k 10-1%: $1,141
Average burden to each of the 3.3M 0-90%: $180
Those 3 points lay on a graduated curve, but still. Oooof.
The NYC budget for FY 2023 is 37B, so the settlement (probably paid out over time) represents 5% of this years budget.
Also notable: NYC/NYS spent over decade fighting the case. The state was detached at some point. The case originated in the 1996's, and became a class-action. The implied argument was that the test was not designed to be g-loaded, nor was it confirmed to be a predictor of classroom success, which lead to unfair disparate impact. In one item, applicants were asked to explain the meaning of an Andy Warhol painting. 90% of white test takers passed the 80 question test, while 53% of Blacks and 50% of Latinos passed.
I'd be surprised that this case has hung around this long, but I imagine it was getting appeals at EVERY STEP where each appeal can add a year or so by itself.
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