The 20 percent of the population with the lowest income pays 10.5 percent of their income toward state and local taxes, mostly through sales, excise, and property taxes.28 The top 1 percent of the state's earners, by contrast, pays 6.1 percent of their income toward state and local taxes (resulting in a net cost to these top filers of only 5.0 percent of their income after factoring in reductions