Bloomberg Contemplating Yet Another Sales Tax Hike

The hike he proposed in January is not sufficient given the falling revenues, so he's proposing raising the sales tax even higher.

Mayor Bloomberg will propose a sales-tax increase tomorrow higher than the 0.25 percent spike he had recommended in January, sources told The Post.

They said the mayor needs to boost the city's sales-tax rate because a series of other sales-tax measures he had been counting on to raise $894 million for his $60 billion budget in 2010 came up short in Albany.

"We need to raise $1 billion," said an administration source. "We're still going to raise $1 billion, but we're going to rejigger the way we do it."

Bloomberg had hoped to piggyback on Gov. Paterson's plan to expand the state sales tax to currently tax-free purchases such as nondiet soft drinks and Internet music downloads.

But Paterson squashed those proposals amid mounting opposition.

Bloomberg's January budget plan also called for repeal of the city sales-tax exemption on clothing sales under $110, assuming Albany would do the same.

You know who's going to benefit from the tax hikes, and the elimination of the sales tax exemption on clothes in NYC? New Jersey. People aren't going to put up with the sales tax hikes, so they'll take the train or drive over to New Jersey to shop for clothes tax free, and enjoy the still lower sales tax in the enterprise zones, which can make for considerable savings on many household items.

It's a lose-lose for the City and local businesses, which will see a further reduction in business, which in turn means lower revenues generating corporate and personal income taxes.

This is the brilliant idea Bloomberg proposed?