Fundamentally the issue comes down to what governments should and should not do with tax money. People fall on different sides of the fence on those issues. What you said is true, the budget is enormous and this is a drop in the bucket. The problem (some will say) is the bucket is way bigger than it should be because all these little things add up to a huge numbers is why NY State has huge taxes, county taxes etc. Once you have a sales tax you can increase it by a small amount and fund new things...over time you get to the bloated condition NY State is in. This is a case study in the "slippery slope". I live in New Hampshire, we have no income tax, no sales tax and something like funding for a stadium would be a non starter period, no chance, we are a minimalist government yet people still find things to complain about.