Posted on 12/29/2001 12:13:30 AM PST by ken5050
Am I the only one who sees something, bizarre, and very wrong, with this? This afternoon,Mayor Guiliani, in the final act of his administration, is set to announce deals for TWO new stadia, for the Yankees and Mets, that will cost the taxpayers about one billion. Now, if the projections are one billion, figure about a 50% cost overrun. But, despite all the projections that this will be a good deal for the city,
Pataki considers cigarette tax hike
By MARC HUMBERT Associated Press Writer December 4, 2001, 2:43 PM EST
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Gov. George Pataki, facing a multibillion dollar revenue shortfall related to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, is considering raising the state's already highest-in-the-nation cigarette tax by up to 39-cents per pack, sources said Tuesday.
The sources, familiar with the deliberations of Pataki's budget advisers and speaking only on condition of anonymity, said the cigarette tax increase was one proposal under consideration as the governor seeks to deal with a potential $9 billion revenue shortfall.
Pataki, during an appearance in nearby Troy with state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, refused to rule out such an increase.
"I'm not going to comment on any specific element of the budget because we haven't put it together yet," he said. "We're doing our analysis and we'll being making decisions over the course of the next few weeks."
But Pataki also warned, "It's going to be a very difficult year coming up and we're all going to have to look to see how we can tighten our belts, reduce costs and operate more efficiently."
Bruno, a fellow Republican who generally opposes tax increases, said he would wait to see the governor's budget proposal for next year before commenting.
Such a cigarette tax increase, first reported Tuesday by the Buffalo News, would raise New York's per pack tax to $1.50.
Currently, New York's $1.11 per pack state tax is the highest in the nation, although state of Washington voters last month approved a tax increase to $1.42 per pack, effective in January.
There has also been some talk among state leaders about delaying already scheduled tax cuts due to take effect next year, but Pataki and legislative leaders haven't yet come up with specifics.
State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat who perhaps fears voter backlash in an election year, has said he is willing to consider tax increases or delays in tax cuts--if they are proposed by Pataki.
Pataki has said the state's revenue shortfall, which he blames in large part on the economic disruption caused by the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, could be up to $3 billion for the state fiscal year that ends March 31. For the next fiscal year, the shortfall could be as much as $6 billion, Pataki has warned. The state's current budget is more than $83 billion.
The governor had indicated earlier that because of the serious fiscal problems, he had hoped to give the state Legislature his budget proposal for fiscal 2002-03 by the middle of this month, about one month before it is legally due. That, according to Pataki, would give the Legislature extra time to work on the spending plan.
But the governor said Tuesday he wasn't certain how soon he would be able to deliver his budget proposal, noting that key sales and estimated income tax payments are due this month and need to be analyzed.
"We want to do it as quickly as we can with the maximum amount of information we believe is necessary," he said.
New York has chronically late budgets. The budgets, for the fiscal year that starts April 1, have been late for 17 straight years.
In 1999, Pataki convinced the Legislature to raise the state cigarette tax by 55-cents per pack, effective March 1 of last year. At the time, the increase was expected to raise an extra $340 million annually.
Supporters of the move said it would reduce smoking while opponents said it would hurt convenience stores and drive customers to Indian reservations or to other states where they could obtain cheaper cigarettes.
Also Tuesday, mayors from across the state held a news conference in Albany to caution state leaders that cities couldn't afford to have the state's fiscal problems shifted onto their shoulders. And, the state School Boards Association warned that with major increases in state aid unlikely school districts needed changes in state law to make it easier for them to cut costs.
Copyright © 2001, The Associated Press
It is also my hope that the state of Minnesota loses all of its professional sports teams and sets an example for the entire nation. Once the rest of the country sees how much better off a place is without them, the entire industry of professional sports will collapse.
And then we have the two moron Senators from NY wanting even more money for NYC. Enough is enough. BTW did NYC ever pay back the money they were given as a bailout when they were going bankrupt? They have been a drain on Upstate NY for many years!
You obviously have not thought about all the tax revenues generated from these teams. Whenever a new stadium is built, the city it is built in almost NEVER loses money. The net impact on taxpayers is either a wash or a net gain.
Also, I don't believe any federal money is going towards the stadium projects. Its a combination of state/city/team money. If you are trying to say that the WTC federal disaster relief money is somehow going to be diverted to the stadiums - what is the basis for that accusation? Your opinion?
Let's say instead of having the Yankees move to NJ, they get a new stadium and stay in NY City. Assuming the Yanks new stadium will be 1/2 the current projected cost of $800 million. Over a 20 year period thats $20 million, plus interest, per year (roughly speaking).
The upcoming payroll for the Yanks is gonna be $150 million. What is the city wage and state income tax burden? Not being a New Yorker, for these millionaire players I'll guess 5% city and another 7% for state. Thats 12% of $150 million, or $18 million per year. When you add the taxes collected for wages of front office personnel, wages of construction workers, wages and sales tax from vendors, taxes on tickets, restaurantes, hotel rooms, airline travel, memorabilia, parking receipts etc., etc., etc., Well, you get the picture.
(Note to Rika and Annie: Perhaps next week our class can add Latin Plurals to the curricula, thereby exercising our collective crania.)
Still being,
Yes we are.
we been getting screwed by both parties for so long in NYC that its paybacks time . For decades we've paid out about twice in Federal taxes in terms of what we get back .
NYC could use a little pork the rest of you guys been getting for years .
It's time that professional sports got taken off of public-assistance.
As for Guiliani, he also made a stupid statement yesterday, attacking Boston and San Diego as being "lesser" cities than New York. What was the purpose of that?
BTW: The current Yankee Stadium is a depressing dump, but let's keep it for the history.
The money for the stadiums is not Federal money, but Federal money will be used to shore up the city's finances, while the city spends money on a stadium. Money being fungible and all that, it will be Federal money used on the stadium.
It's not like I'm against the stadium on principle, but I would like to argue it out on the facts.
I dunno about that, they're at least as stupid as the voters in south Florida.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.