Legislature Planning MTA Bailout Through Tax Squeeze

New York legislative leaders have claimed that they've come up with a plan that would result in bridging the gaping budget gap at the MTA without relying on implementing new tolls along the East River and Harlem River bridges.

The solution isn't reducing costs or addressing massive structural deficits, but rather raising taxes and fees on motor vehicle registrations and other motor vehicle fees.

Legislators will gather in Albany on Monday to discuss the proposal, and they could vote on the plan as early as next week, around the same time as the state's overall budget.

"We are going to work straight through the weekend," Smith said. "I think, as [Silver] said, we are faster moving on the budget items, but I think the MTA will be right in that same area."

Lawmakers previously said the MTA rescue wouldn't be considered until well after they approved the state budget.

The levies could include a $25 added fee on vehicle registrations, a surcharge on drivers' licenses, and 13 "other auto-related taxes," the source said.

Paterson and Silver told Smith to pick several taxes and fees from that menu that would be approved by his lawmakers and that would add up to $200 million to $300 million in yearly revenue for the MTA, the sources said.

The 12 counties that receive MTA service would pay the additional fees, the source said.

Other MTA funding ideas, such as income and gasoline taxes, were ruled out, the source said.

The automobile fees would be paired with two original bailout proposals, the sources said. That includes an 8 percent fare hike for riders -- much less than Wednesday's 23 percent increase -- and a 33-cent tax on every $100 of a business' payroll. It's not yet clear what an 8 percent hike would mean for the cost of single-ride, monthly and other MetroCards.

While this proposal would mean a much lower increase in the fares on subways and buses and commuter trains, it still leaves the budget short. It also means that we'll be back in this position again next year.

None of these options and proposals address soaring costs, but for the moment will apparently stave off the crippling cuts in mass transit service on which the City depends to not only get people to and from work, but to reduce the traffic on bridges and tunnels.