This week, a New York Supreme Court Justice declared unconstitutional a tax covering a 12-county area including the city of New York and its surrounding suburbs, creating a $1.26 billion hole in this year's MTA budget.
In ruling in favor of a lawsuit brought by Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano and other suburban communities against the Payroll Mobility Tax, which was adopted by the State Legislature in 2009 to rescue the indebted Metropolitan Transportation
Authority (MTA), "Judge R. Bruce Cozzens Jr. held the levy violated a so-
called home-rule provision in the state constitution," reports Esmé E. Deprez.
In a statement, the MTA claimed that, "Removing
more than $1.2 billion in revenue from the Payroll Mobility Tax,
plus hundreds of millions of dollars more from other taxes
affected by yesterday's ruling, would be catastrophic for the
MTA and for the economy of New York state." It continues, "Without the Payroll Mobility Tax or another stable and reliable
source of funding, the MTA would be forced to implement a combination of
extreme service cuts and fare hikes."
According to Deprez, "Mangano, a Republican who led the plaintiffs in the suit
filed in 2010, celebrated today alongside state and county
legislators at a news briefing in Mineola. He called the
decision as a 'victory for taxpayers and job creators
throughout the state.'"
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