Senate Republicans Blast Inclusion of Regional Mobility Tax in State Budget

(ALBANY,  NY) - Today, in response to the enactment of New York State’s latest record-setting budget, members of the Senate Republican Conference representing the MTA Region railed against the inclusion of a payroll mobility tax – Albany’s latest attempt to throw money at the over-bloated and mismanaged MTA. According to news reports, this tax would hit New York City businesses with payrolls of at least $10 million a year with a 0.895% tax (up from 0.6%) and those on Long Island, and in Westchester, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, and Rockland counties with a 0.635% tax (up from 0.34%).

Majorities in Albany are once again treating New Yorkers and New York’s businesses as a piggy bank. And in doing so, they are speeding up the huge exodus of New Yorkers who are fleeing the Empire State for more affordable parts of the country. Ballooning budget numbers year after year reflect a disconnect between Albany Democrats and reality. The looming mobility tax is the latest example of just how out of touch they are with the needs and concerns of the very people they were elected to represent.

This budget includes a 5-year allocation to the tune of $68.4 billion to fully fund the MTA’s capital improvement plan. That’s on top of the recently enacted congestion pricing scheme that is costing drivers more each time they travel into the City.

The egregious wasteful spending at the MTA is a slap in the face to every taxpayer in the MTA region:

• MTA has spent over $900M in consultant costs for the 2nd Avenue Subway
• Phase 2 of the 2nd Avenue subway cost $4.3 billion per mile
• New staircase and entryway at Times Square subway station cost the MTA $30 million
• MTA installed 910 cameras in 32 subway stations at a cost of $21.3 million - that comes out to $23,000 per camera
• The MTA has spent over $650 million on security camera projects since 2002.
• Spent $1 million on a study to examine “psychology” of fare evaders.
• The cost to construct a subway in NYC is 8 to 12 times that of constructing a subway in Europe and 3 times the cost to construct a subway line in Los Angeles.
• NYC 2nd Avenue Subway - $2.6 billion per mile
• LA’s Purple Line Subway - $800 million per mile
• Madrid subway - $320 million per mile
• Paris subway - $160 million per mile
• MTA lost nearly $700 million in unpaid bus and subway fares in 2022

“Hochul’s latest proposed tax hike is just more fuel on the fire driving businesses and families out of New York. The Governor can’t talk about affordability with a straight face while hammering job creators—on top of congestion pricing. How much more do Democrats think New Yorkers can take? The MTA is a black hole for taxpayer dollars—money goes in, nothing comes out, and somehow they always need more. It’s a microcosm of Albany itself under one-party rule. Instead of finding creative ways to take more money from taxpayers, why don’t we ask where the hell the hundreds of billions they already send to Albany each year is actually going?  That’s why I’m continuing my call for a full forensic audit of the MTA and for passage of my legislation requiring a supermajority to enact any tax or fee increase,” stated Senator Steve Rhoads.

New York State is heading down a dangerous path, if it’s not already too far down it. We simply cannot continue to bleed the very individuals who fund Albany’s mistakes and expect to spend at the rate we are spending. The Republican members of the Senate have again and again pushed the legislature to hold the MTA accountable and create a commission to audit the MTA.  There’s only so much water before New York’s well runs dry.