Protecting Long Island's taxpayers and commuters

Earlier this month on Long Island, Governor Cuomo, joined by County Executive Ed Mangano and State Senate Majority leader Dean Skelos, signed legislation to dramatically reduce the Metropolitan Transportation Authority payroll tax for hundreds of thousands of individuals and businesses and significantly reduce this onerous tax for thousands more.

Long Island’s state senators, lead by Skelos and Sen. Lee Zeldin, fought hard to have this tax, which has been hampering Long Island’s small-business community and causing a decline in job creation within our communities, eliminated.

As I mentioned last week, the tax reduction came about as a result of a bipartisan economic plan between the governor and Senate and Assembly leaders that offered tax relief for the middle class and our state’s small businesses.

The tax was implemented in 2009, and forced employers to pay 34 cents for every $100 of their payroll costs to the MTA in an effort to aid the financially troubled agency. The tax was onerous inasmuch as it applied not only to Long Island’s small business, but our religious and educational institutions as well as our hospitals.

According to Zeldin, “The tax repeal will provide $320 million in new tax relief … on small businesses and schools (public and private) and includes a total repeal for 700,000 taxpayers: 290,000 small businesses and 415,000 self-employed taxpayers.”

While it’s a tremendous victory for taxpayers, many have begun to question how the state will make up for the loss in funding the always cash-strapped MTA now faces.

According to a New York Times editorial, “Although the Albany leaders say that the state will make up any lost revenue, they have not determined a secure source of financing. Mr. Cuomo needs to make certain that the already cash-starved transportation authority doesn’t suffer.”

Cuomo has promised that the state will find a way to make up the $320 million difference to the MTA. The question is, how? While small businesses are granted tax relief, will taxpayers and straphangers have to compensate for the shortfall?

The MTA is already suffering, and that means commuters are going to suffer even more.