Thursday, June 12, 2025
Nassau County officials are pushing back on a payroll tax increase intended to fund the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s five-year capital plan for infrastructure upgrades across New York’s transit system.
As part of the $254 billion state budget agreement for 2026, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on April 28 that the $68 billion MTA capital plan will be fully funded through “modest adjustments” to the Payroll Mobility tax — imposed on those doing business within the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District, which includes the five boroughs and Nassau and Suffolk counties.
During a news conference at the Long Island Rail Road station in Wantagh on Thursday, Nassau County Legislator John Ferretti said the tax, which was introduced in 2009, has done little to combat public safety on MTA facilities, describing it as “another burden on Long Island residents.”
“Increasing the payroll tax is just yet another slap in the face to working Long Island families and businesses,” Ferretti said. “All we do is receive some foreign MTA service, and yet we're constantly called upon to be the piggy bank for MTA and New York City, and we're tired of it.”
During the news conference, Ferretti, the Republican nominee for Town of Hempstead supervisor in November, joined Nassau County Comptroller Elaine Phillips, Town Clerk Kate Murray, County Legislator Rose Walker, Councilman Dennis Dunne, and Tom Valenti, owner of Piccolo Ristorante in Bellmore.
Valenti urged the governor to find an alternative funding method that doesn’t impact local businesses.
“The responsibilities and burdens placed upon businesses and the people of Long Island, it's just too much,” Valenti said at the news conference. “I've come here today to respectfully ask the people in power to figure out a better way to fund this project, because currently, the people that they're asking to fund these projects daily, to drive the bus on these projects, they're running on fumes.”
According to the state’s website, businesses are expected to pay the tax if the total sum of their payroll expense is more than $312,500 for any calendar quarter. For Nassau County, the rate begins at 0.11 percent and maxes out at 0.34 percent if a company’s payroll expense exceeds $437,500.
According to Hochul, the adjustment to the mobility tax would “protect small businesses while ensuring large corporations contribute their share.” She said small businesses would see their tax burdens cut in half, while larger companies making more than $10 million in payroll would face “small increases.” According to reports, the tax increase could affect between 5,000 and 10,000 businesses statewide.
The five-year capital plan, according to Hochul, will focus on repairs and upgrades throughout the state’s subway systems, including the construction of the Interborough Express, a transit project that will connect underserved areas of Brooklyn and Queens. She added that the plan would also crack down on fare evasion.
Hochul said the plan would also be funded by redirecting $1.2 billion from Penn Station, requiring greater fiscal discipline from the MTA, and having the agency contribute $3 billion — matching the contributions from both the city and the state.
“For New York City to thrive, our mass transit system must be safe, strong and reliable,” she said, “and we are delivering a State Budget that supports these goals.”
However, Ferretti described the tax as a “penalty on employment” that, combined with policies like congestion pricing, could drive jobs, investment and families out of New York. He urged Hochul and state legislators to reject the payroll tax and called on the governor to authorize an audit of the MTA.
“This tax hike is nothing more than a bailout for a failing agency that is accountable to no one with no incentive to change,” he said.
Valenti expressed concern about the potential impact the tax increase could have on Long Island’s workforce and small businesses.
“There's less people on Long Island right now, and I know that projects like this, they don't understand how many people are going to lose their jobs,” Valenti said. “They don't understand how many businesses are going to close.”
