Recession hurting Ohio’s millionaires, newspaper says

Filed by Associated Press October 31st, 2011

The recession slashed both the number and earnings of Ohio millionaires, according to a newspaper’s analysis of state tax returns.

The Dayton Daily News reports Monday that the state in 2007 had more than 7,800 taxpayers with adjusted gross income of $1 million or more. By 2009, the number was down to about 4,500.

Ohio Department of Taxation spokesman Gary Gudmundson says the 43 percent drop mirrors the national, 40 percent decline in millionaires during the same period.

Ohioans making $1 million or more had adjusted gross income totaling $50 billion in 2009, less than half the $103 billion the group earned in 2007.

Economists say millionaires have been hurt by volatility on the stock market, because so much of their income comes from investments and capital gains.