Ball, Bondi Take on MTA

Assemblyman Greg Ball and County Executive Robert Bondi address a news conference last week in Carmel protesting the MTA Payroll Tax. Eric Gross State Assemblyman Greg Ball and County Executive Robert Bondi have joined forces by calling on the New York State Legislature to audit the books of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority while repealing the MTA Payroll Tax.

The two men held a news conference last week at the County Office Building in Carmel.

Ball, who has held previous news briefings in Brewster, Yorktown, and Somers urging repeal of the tax that has cost Putnam County government more than $165,000 since its inception last year, described the tax as the “final nail in the coffin of a state that is trending into a downward spiral. Sheldon Silver and his legislative cronies are not leaders. They are kamikaze pilots intent on sinking the ship. New York City lawmakers must hear from residents of the Hudson Valley that we are being taxed beyond our ability to pay, and will not take it any longer.”

Ball also criticized the MTA as being “corrupt” and demanded an audit: “The MTA has been entrusted with public trust, yet they run wild and make ridiculous decisions whether to create a dog-training center in southern Dutchess County or opening a new headquarters in lower Manhattan. The so-called MTA Mobility Tax would not be necessary if the authority was run properly. Hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars are being wasted each year.”

Ball also alleged the new tax represented “cruel and unusual punishment, not only to small business owners, but to non-profit organizations such as the PARC Pre-School. Why should an agency like PARC be forced to write a check for $50,000 to the MTA instead of using that money to hire a teacher or two to help developmentally challenged children?”

Bondi signed a letter joining the assemblyman’s coalition of county executives against the MTA Tax. Bondi said the county employs 645 men and women who provide services daily: “Not one of these residents uses any of the MTA facilities to get to work. How unfair can that be to our taxpayers, who must pay these exorbitant fees?”

The usually mild-mannered executive charged that the “MTA treats Putnam County like a stepchild despite our paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to the railroad for station maintenance at MTA facilities in Brewster, Southeast, Patterson, Cold Spring, and Garrison—stations that are always filthy—as well as one-quarter of one percent for sales tax.”

The Mobility Tax that was enacted last May to pay for the MTA’s budget gap imposes 34 cents for every $100 of payroll. The tariff is estimated to cost Hudson Valley employers more than $165 million this year.

Ball also renewed his call for an April 15 tax revolt on the steps of the historic Putnam Courthouse to protest the MTA tax. Participants are being asked to submit symbolic checks to the assemblyman, who will calculate how much money is being taken from Putnam, Westchester, and Dutchess to bail out the MTA instead of creating local jobs.