Here we go again.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city’s finances are so dire that he needs help from the suburbs. That’s right, he wants to bring back the commuter tax.
It’s not the first time Gotham’s mayor has tried to bring back the tax, which would hit everyone who works in the city but lives outside of it.
This time, however, he may have the support of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who told the Daily News that he wants to bring back the tax he helped kill in 1999. Silver and Bloomberg failed to mention that residents in New York City pay far less in property taxes than their suburban neighbors and that Long Island leaders continue to complain that state government gives more to the city schools than districts in Nassau and Suffolk counties.
There is good news, however. State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Rockville Centre, says there is no chance the commuter tax will make it through his branch of Albany’s divided government.
A Skelos spokesman told the paper “The New York City commuter tax was a particularly onerous and unfair tax, and we remain opposed to any tax increases.”
And here’s some more good news for Long Islanders: The leader of the Senate Democrats, Malcolm Smith of Queens,said he’s not for it either.
“Now is not the time to be talking about raising taxes,” Smith said. “We need to focus on rebuilding New York’s economy by cutting property taxes, creating jobs and reducing wasteful spending.”
A chance to make the commuter tax productive…
Mayor Bloomberg has used the financial crisis as an opportunity to once again bring up the issue of a commuter tax.
The State Assembly (read Sheldon Silver, who represents a district in NYC) is willing to consider the idea.
The State Senate (read D…