The Brian Lehrer Show

When the super-wealthy leave the state, where does their tax revenue end up?

In the case of hedge fund manager David Tepper, his move from New Jersey to Florida last month will cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars.

Robert Frank, CNBC wealth reporter, host of "Secret Lives of the Super Rich," columnist for The New York Times "Inside Wealth" column and author of The High-Beta Rich: How the Manic Wealthy Will Take Us to the Next Boom, Bubble, and Bust (Crown Business, 2011) discusses his latest story about how tax collection changes when a small segment of the population owns a majority of the wealth.

Frank said the fact that one person can move out of New Jersey and prompt a legislative analyst to declare a potential revenue risk is unprecedented, and he expects to see similar scenarios in other states where the top one percent provide a significant amount of tax revenue. 

"We might see in New Jersey or Connecticut or California...more David Teppers leaving," Frank said. "And then the states will have to sort of grapple with 'are we too reliant on this small group of taxpayers or do we just need to do a better job at tracking their movements and somehow planning ahead for the eventuality or possibility that they could leave.' And I think it's more the latter."  

From 2006 - 2015:
-NJ gained 30,000 millionaires
-NY gained 69,500
-CA gained 100,000+
via @robtfrank/@nytimes
More: https://t.co/ewjniHlI61

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