Leaders Talk Tough About Transit Tax

Putnam’s frustration with the MTA mobility tax continues. Last Thursday Fratelli’s in Mahopac, local politicians and business leaders met to discuss strategies for opposing the wildly unpopular tax. Though little in the way of concrete plans was discussed, elected officials and businesses alike used the meeting as platform to air their grievances.

“I personally think this is one of the most devastating taxes, not just for the multi-county MTA region, but for the entire state of New York,” said State Senator Vincent Leibell, to the audience.

The event, hosted by the Greater Mahopac Carmel Chamber of Commerce, brought a dozen political representatives together in front of business leaders for a freewheeling discussion that veered from the MTA tax to other issues, like park creation in Carmel. “We’ve never done anything like this kind of open forum before,” said Peter Bardunias, executive director of the chamber.

Assemblyman Greg Ball, who encouraged businesses to pay their MTA tax bill into an escrow account rather than to Albany, noted that the Hudson Valley’s anguish was being noticed in the state capital. “Will we actually set up an escrow account, will we formalize a tax revolt? That’s only half the question. The real question is having the dialogue,” said Ball.

Ball still encouraged defiance in the face of taxation. “What legal protections did our Founding Fathers have?” Ball said, “They didn’t wait for everyone to get on board, and for someone to tell them it would be safe.”

Putnam’s Deputy County Executive John Tully reminded the audience that the county supports the MTA financially in many ways, in mandates in the state budget, in sales taxes, and commutation fees. “But I think it’s safe to say no one took mass transportation to this event,” said Tully, generating a small laugh.

Susan Spear, Congressman John Hall’s chief of staff, noted that while the House of Representatives had no direct authority over the MTA or Albany, Hall had marked federal dollars for the operation of the MTA in an attempt to offset the payroll tax. “It’s not a permanent fix or a complete fix, but it is enough money to cover the Hudson Valley, which is disproportionately affected by the payroll tax,” said Spear. “Now it’s up to the state to take what he did at the federal level and implement it.”

“To try to put this on back on the state legislature is playing politics,” Ball said, “We need the congressman to force [the] state legislators to take a hard stand.”

Spear quickly shot back that “The congressman has already done that,” and reiterated that the MTA fell under Albany’s authority, not Washington’s.

Somers Town Supervisor Mary Beth Murphy told the audience that the “simple solution to the problem” was to cut spending as revenues are reduced. “Taxes like this MTA tax cannot be added to the burden,” said Murphy.

Among the other speakers were Putnam Legislators Tony Fusco and Vincent Tamagna, Westchester Legislator Michael Kaplowitz, Carmel Supervisor Ken Smith, and Yorktown Councilman Nick Bianco.

Tamagna said that Putnam should join a region-wide lawsuit to determine whether it is adequately represented on the MTA’s board of governors. Currently Putnam has one quarter of a vote on the board. Leibell and others offered that pressure could be put on Connecticut, which also enjoys MTA services, to pay its fare share of the MTA’s operating expenses. Ball and Leibell both called for an independent and forensic audit of the ailing agency.