Posted on 03/24/2023 11:56:14 AM PDT by ConservativeInPA
New Yorkers may soon be forced to pay more for their streaming subscriptions like Netflix and Hulu in a bid to stave off a major MTA fare hike.
Democratic members of the New York state Assembly on Thursday submitted a budget proposal that would impose a 4% sales tax on popular video and audio streaming services.
Other money-making schemes introduced in Albany include a fee on package deliveries and a surcharge on ride-hailing rides, the Wall Street Journal first reported.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it needs an influx of $1 billion to keep subways, buses and commuter trains running, without resorting to a planned 5.5% fare hike that would boost the price of a single ride from the current $2.75 to $3.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
I’ve heard some people say they love New York, because of cultural activities, such as the world class museums, and Broadway shows. Sports fans have a full menu, with 2 teams in each of the major pro sports.
And just in general, not specific to NYC, some people live where they do, because they were born and raised there. Some with strong family ties can’t imagine moving away.
All of us can ask ourselves, why do you live where you live. Is it due to job, school, family ties, significant other lives there, military service took you somewhere, etc etc.
If the ridership is down in NYC like it is in San Francisco, the marginal revenue from a 8.33% fare increase won’t make a dent. Double the fare, close down every other street, and triple the license plate cost on limos. Force the population into the MTA to increase the business.
Is there any regular sales tax on streaming services in NY? I don’t have a problem if regular sales tax is applied to the streaming services. If a state has a sales tax the I think it should be applied equally to goods and services.
I have to laugh at NY State.
1. Netflix (streaming service) users are predominately younger folks. 2. One of the MTA’s problem is ridership has not recovered from pre-pandemic levels, and one reason is that many workers, like those identified in 1., remain “remote” workers needing not to go back to offices in New York City - part of the “missing” ridership. 3. Yet 1. and 2. also represent demographics that largely vote Democrat in New York state.
And now NY state is looking at taxing their streaming services. Talk about “out of touch” and even out of touch which a good many of those that keep electing the Dims. LOL
“The MTA said it needs an influx of $1 billion to keep subways, buses and commuter trains running”
That means that revenue from the fares people pay leaves $1 billion plus in ADDITIONAL taxpayer subsidies to be an operating transportation system. We say $1 billion plus because it is an acknowledgement that the $1 billion shortfall is after state and local subsidies the MTA is already scheduled to get.
It would be better for everyone if New York City population shrank a huge amount, reducing the level of subsidized services needed, reducing demands on already high priced housing, forcing reductions in state and local taxes, size of government payroll and expenses, and over time leaving a leaner but healthier New York City. The way NY State and City operate represents a sticking swamp as big as Washington D.C.
Taxation without representation. (true representation)
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
I love it.
Pay more punks!
I live in NYC. I don’t use Netflix or Uber, but I take mass transit. So this works for me.
Used to have great neighborhood video store. They all got put out of business. Already saw pretty much every great movie from 40’s to 90’s. Mostly all crap since then. Not paying for subscription to a monopoly.
Raise fares to pay for MTA ....
NY is desperate for revenue due to their in constrained deficit spending. And this is after Biden bailed them out twice… once after Covid and once after Signature Bank collapsed.
Stay in NY. Freeloaders like you are not welcome elsewhere in America.
LOL....I pay $127 a month for an MTA pass for unlimited subway and bus access. This makes me a freeloader?
After 60 years I left Chicago to move to Wisconsin. Most Illinoisans moved south to Florida, Tennessee or Arizona. Some just moved over the border to Indiana. I assume NYC is the same. As the taxes went up to the highest they could, 11% sales tax and a million dollar home pays $30,000 every year in property taxes. Property values have not gone up in decades. And many major businesses have left the state. I’m guessing the poor will stay.
They already have the TBTA gold mine. Tolls are already insanely high to subsidize the MTA. The bridge and tunnel construction bonds were paid off decades ago.
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