And your surprised? He's a socialist. New York deserves him.
Posted on 11/15/2005 7:44:27 AM PST by finnman69
There might be a new drive in New York City to tax suburban commuters. At a press conference in Queens on Monday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg stated that suburban property values rise and fall on the city's success.
"Property values are up because of their proximity to the city," Bloomberg said. "If the city weren't safe, their property values wouldn't be as high ..."
City officials said the mayor may be posturing for state and city budget talks starting next month.
New York State legislators have previously rejected attemps by the city to tax commuters.
Mayor Bloomberg is expected to update the city's financial estimates in a couple of weeks.
See also
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/politics/politics-economy-newyorkcity.html
NYC Mayor Relaunches Bid to Tax Suburban Commuters
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday relaunched his bid to reinstate a tax on some 800,000 commuters that state legislators axed in 1999.
The Republican mayor, who also pushed to revive the tax when he campaigned for his first term in 2001, estimated that New York City's 8.1 million residents send the state $12 billion more a year in tax revenues than they get back.
The commuter tax, formally set at half a percent of income, used to give the city $400 million to $500 million a year.
``We really should in all fairness get some help,'' Bloomberg told reporters, asserting that suburban dwellers owe their rising home values to New York City's vibrant economy, low crime rates and improving schools.
``What's more, an awful lot of people come into this city to work,'' he added. These commuters benefit from city services, such as its mass transit system, Bloomberg said.
But political experts said the mayor faces an uphill battle partly because the city's revenue outlook has brightened.
Though New York City faces a $4.5 billion gap in next year's budget, it should rake in an extra $400 million in tax revenues in the first quarter of its current fiscal year.
The state legislature must approve any city tax hikes or cuts except for its property tax, which this year should raise $12.5 billion. Democratic and Republican legislators killed the commuter tax in a battle for a Senate seat in a suburban county just north of the city.
A spokesman for Republican Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno of Rensselaer, said the Senate had no plans to reinstate the commuter tax. ``That (stand) has not changed since it was first eliminated six years ago,'' added spokesman Mark Hansen.
A spokesman for Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who represents Manhattan, had no immediate comment.
Bloomberg said: ``It's going to be a difficult political lift, we know that.'' He suggested a new link between the commuter tax and raising money for mass transit improvements that would benefit both city residents and suburbanites.
``Hopefully, this will be part of a package to address the issue of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the mass transit regional security for the whole area,'' Bloomberg said.
The MTA needs funds to connect the Long Island Rail Road to midtown's Grand Central Terminal, link John F. Kennedy International Airport to Lower Manhattan, and build an East Side Second Avenue subway.
The city has cut how much it gives the MTA, which runs its subways, buses and commuter rail lines. The agency now gets 0.375 percent of sales tax revenues, pushing the city-state sales tax rate up to 8.375 percent.
And your surprised? He's a socialist. New York deserves him.
He's not called Bloominidiot for nothing.
I'm not from NY but I know people who are. Those folks, none of whom live in the city, consistently lament to me the drain on the rest of the state that city is.
Bloomers sure is gonna make them happy with this move. Hear that sucking sound?
I can actually see this knowing full well Toronto (where I live) is watching how it will go over.
I've been in Athens and London where a similar program is underway. These are aging cities whose infrastructure has not seen appropriate investment in decades. You can't increase business tax or business will move out of the urban core. You can only increase property tax so far, as many people are pushed out of their homes already by real estate values and the taxes linked to same. So the ones to get hit are the commuters. The rationale is they use the urban core without giving anything back.
I'm not saying it's right, I'm only saying there are few alternatives. It does go far to relieving congestion in the city core.
I see a boom for New Jersey.
This type of tax is one of the things that drove business to Jersey City, Newark, and Westchester.
Oh, you should have seen it here a few weeks ago. Many were defending Bloomberg and planning to vote for him because the other guy was a democrat. Enjoy another four years of this nitwit, NY.
"These commuters benefit from city services, such as its mass transit system, Bloomberg said."
And how do they benefit from mass transit?
You mean they ride free?
Of course not. They have to PAY to ride.
Some 'benefit'.
Hmmm, I thought the property values were high because people want to live out of the city because the city isn't all that safe. Seems to me, if the city were safer, the property values wouldn't be as high.
Why doesn't he just raise the city tax on cigarettes to $1,000/pack or the city tax on gasoline to $1,000/gallon? Doesn't he understand simple economics?
And why did leglisator axe 800,000 commuters?
The rinos goal is to anger conservative voters so they can take ovet the whole party.
We must not throw good conservatives like Mike Pence away because of rinos like Bloomberg.
Why do good conservatives get punished because of the actions of rinos. We need to keep the good conservatives and kick the rinos out of the party.
Like I have been saying in my posts all along , he is left of moveon.org and a tax and spend democrat in repubs clothing
Yeah I noticed that. More people would live in the city IF they did not have to pay $500,000 for a studio apartment with schools that are garbage.
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