[뉴스핌=김성수 기자] 미국 뉴욕 주의 상위 1% 부자들이 부유층 증세를 공개적으로 요구하고 나섰다.

21일 자 가디언 등 다수 외신에 따르면 40여명의 이들 부자들은 앤드류 쿠오모 주지사와 주 의회에 보낸 공개서한에서 소득 상위 1%를 대상으로 증세할 것을 요구했다.

이들은 서한에서 "우리는 뉴욕 주의 역동적 경제활동에 기여하고 혜택을 누리고 있는 주민으로서 공정한 몫을 부담할 능력과 책임이 있다"고 밝혔다.

뉴욕의 한 노숙자 <사진=블룸버그통신>

이들 부자들은 "뉴욕에는 8만명이 넘는 노숙자들이 주 전역에 걸쳐 힘겹게 생활하고 있다"며 "뉴욕 주의 아동 빈곤이 일부 지역에서 50%를 초과하는 등 기록적인 수준인 것은 부끄러운 사실"이라고 강조했다.

이어 "아동 빈곤과 노숙자, 낙후된 인프라 문제를 해결하는 데 쓰일 공공 기금이 필요하다"면서 "동료 시민들이 빈곤을 탈출해 경제적 수준을 높일 수 있도록 보육시설에서 대학에 이르기까지 공교육을 강화해야 한다"고 주장했다.

이들은 인적투자와 공공투자가 새로운 일자리를 만들고, 현재의 극심한 불평등을 완화하게 될 것이라고 밝혔다.

공개서한에 이름을 올린 이들 중에는 록펠러 가문의 후손인 스티븐 록펠러, 35세 이하 부유층의 박애주의 활동을 지원하는 엘스페스 길모어, 월트 디즈니의 손녀 아비게일 디즈니 등이 포함됐다.

이들은 모두 뉴욕 주에서 소득 상위 1%에 드는 사람들로 연간 소득이 66만5000달러(약 8억원만원) 이상이다.

이들 부자들이 요구한 증세안에 따르면 소득 상위 1%의 기준인 66만5000달러 소득자의 경우 7.65%의 한계세율을 적용받는다. 66만5000달러 이상을 벌어들일 경우 매 100달러마다 7.65달러를 세금으로 내는 것이다.

이후 한계세율은 100만달러 이상, 200만달러 이상, 1000만달러 이상, 1억달러 이상 구간에 따라 각각 8.82%, 9.35%, 9.65%, 9.99%가 적용된다.

다음은 가디언 지가 공개한 이번 공개서한 원문이다.

We are New York's millionaires and we say: raise our taxes
Each of us earns over $665K a year. We can afford to give more to help children in poverty, the homeless and people on low incomes

Dear Governor Cuomo and Legislative Leaders,

We are upper‐income New Yorkers who treasure the quality of life in our state.

However, we are deeply concerned that too many New Yorkers are struggling economically, and the state’s ailing infrastructure is in desperate need of attention.

We cannot afford to ignore these challenges. As business leaders and investors, we know that the long-term stability and growth of a company requires investments in both its human capital and physical infrastructure. The same is true for our state.

It is a shameful fact that child poverty in New York State is at a record level, exceeding 50% in some of our urban centers. New York State has a record number of homeless families – more than 80,000 people – struggling to survive across the state. And far too many adults in our state do not have the work skills needed for the 21st century economy.

Now is the time to invest in the long-term economic viability of New York. We need to invest in pathways out of poverty and up the economic ladder for all of our fellow citizens, including strong public education from pre-K to college. And, we need to invest in the fragile bridges, tunnels, waterlines, public buildings, and roads that we all depend on.

These human and physical infrastructure investments will pay off in the creation of new jobs, a workforce prepared to fill them, and a reduction in the extreme income inequality that currently exists in our state.

The question is: how do we pay for those investments? In the spirit of shared sacrifice, we, the undersigned, call for a balanced solution that includes maintaining, expanding, and making permanent the top marginal income tax rates for upper-income New Yorkers like us who can afford to pay more. Specifically, we urge the governor and the legislature to implement the 1% Plan for New York Tax Fairness, which calls for new marginal rates of 7.65%, 8.82%, 9.35%, 9.65% and 9.99% for brackets starting at $665,000 (the top 1% of earners in our state), $1 million, $2 million, $10 million and $100 million, respectively. We also urge our elected leaders to make permanent the lower tax rates for working families, ranging from 4% to 6.85%, before they expire next year.

If the temporary tax rates at all levels are allowed to expire, it will mean a $1 billion dollar tax increase for middle class families and a $3.7 billion dollar windfall tax cut for millionaires like us.

As New Yorkers who have contributed to and benefited from the economic vibrancy of our state, we have both the ability and the responsibility to pay our fair share. We can well afford to pay our current taxes, and we can afford to pay even more. Our state needs to invest this revenue in our struggling schools, in antipoverty measures and in infrastructure improvements. Our state’s long-term economic prosperity depends on strong investments in our people and our communities.

Everyone does better when everyone does better. We urge Governor Cuomo and the New York state legislature to expand the current millionaires tax and ensure that upper-income New Yorkers like us keep doing their part to invest in our state.

Sonia Alexander, NYC * Elyse Arnow-Brill, Joshua Arnow, Pound Ridge * Roy Berberich, Mineola * Polly Cleveland and Thomas Haines, NYC * Arthur Cornfield, NYC * Louis B. Cullman and Louise Hirshfeld Cullman, NYC * Pierce Delahunt, NYC * Anne Delaney, NYC * Abigail Disney, NYC * Barbara Fleischman, NYC * Sarah Frank, NYC * Rosemary Faulkner, NYC * Elspeth Gilmore, NYC * Steven and Mary Goldring, NYC * Agnes Gund, NYC * Catherine Gund, NYC * Leo Hindery Jr., NYC * Polly Howell & Eric Werthman, Glenford * Marion Hunt, NYC * Craig Kaplan & Anne Hess, NYC * Dal LaMagna, NYC * Ruth and David A. Levine, NYC * Michael A. and Ann Ross Loeb, NYC * Joshua Mailman, NYC * James and Jacqueline Mann, Mt Kisco, NYC * Mark Nelkin, NYC * Jan Nicholson, NYC * Susan Ochshorn and Marc I. Gross, NYC * Richard Perl, NYC * Seth Perlman, NYC * Karen Pittelman, NYC * Mark Reed, NYC * Steven C. Rockefeller, NYC * Darius A. Ross, NYC * Martin Rothenburg, Syracuse * Lindsay Shea, Germantown * Daniel A. Simon, NYC * Lynn Stern, NYC * Jessie Spector, NYC * Sarah Stranahan, NYC * Peter Strugatz, East Hampton <끝>

[뉴스핌 Newspim] 김성수 기자 (sungsoo@newspim.com)