Editorial: Box score -- 634

That's the number of state and local government employees per 10,000 residents in New York State, according to a study by the Tax Foundation using 2007 data. The figure is higher than in any other populous state, which is one reason taxes are so high here. Workers are a major government expense in New York; labor accounts for at least 75 percent of local government spending and 40 to 50 percent of county spending. It's hard to see any way out of local fiscal troubles that doesn't involve payroll cuts.