Legislators push to repeal MTA tax

Long Island employers got a bit of good news earlier this month when the State Senate passed a bill to repeal the MTA payroll tax — shortly after the MTA terminated its contract to operate Long Island Bus and reduced services throughout the Long Island Rail Road system.

State Sen. Charles Fuschillo (R-Merrick), chairman of the Senate’s Transportation Committee, was among the cosponsors of legislation that would gradually phase out the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility Tax, which was enacted in 2009 and is assessed on all jobs in the public, private and nonprofit sectors, including schools, local governments and charities. Nassau County government alone spends about $3 million annually on payroll taxes. The legislation also calls for a forensic audit of the MTA.

“Repealing the MTA payroll tax is essential to getting Long Island back on the right track for economic prosperity,” Fuschillo said shortly after the bill passed on June 15. “The payroll tax … has devastated businesses, municipalities, nonprofits and schools.”

Assemblyman Ed Ra (R-Franklin Square) made a push for his fellow Assembly members to follow suit and join the Senate in approving the legislation. “The MTA has been using the taxpayers of New York like we’re an ATM,” the freshman Assemblyman said. “With 800,000 New Yorkers unemployed, we should be doing all we can to create jobs and lower taxes. Our schools and small businesses are forced to pay this tax while at the same time morning trains are being reduced and weekend services eliminated at several stations. The MTA payroll tax only allows a bloated bureaucracy to continue to fund its inefficient services with our money as it eliminates services from our community.”

The MTA declined to comment.