During rough economic times, politicians angling for reelection like nothing more than a tax to serve as a good whipping boy. Since the MTA has long held that unwanted position at the bottom of the New York political totem pole, the unpopular, but necessary, payroll tax is beginning to attract everyone’s ire. While neither Andrew Cuomo nor Rick Lazio have voiced any support for the payroll tax, GOP lawmakers are starting to make noise about a repeal.
In Newsday today, transit writer Alberto Castillo explores how state Republicans are calling for an end to the tax (link is subscription only). Well, perhaps saying they want an end to the tax is premature. Rather, they’re beating the MTA/forensic audit drum. Unless the authority agrees to a forensic audit — something to which it has been quite willing to submit — these representatives wish to deny the MTA its next payroll mobility tax check. “We want every paper clip, every pencil. We want to know every expense of the MTA and its subsidiaries,” Dean Murray, from Patchogue, said. “Before you turn to the taxpayers to bail you out, you should look where you could save money.”
Castillo has more priceless quotes from state representatives who do not view it as their duty to mind the MTA, a state authority. One representative from Glen Head claimed that, in the words of Castillo, “the MTA wouldn’t need that money if it kept its house in order.” Michael Montesano said, “It’s just easier for them to go to the taxpayer and to the State Legislature and just ask for more money. And if you don’t give it to them, there’s the threat of more service cuts.”
Of course, there’s the threat of more service cuts or fare hikes. If the state, the body that granted the MTA a corporate charter and mass transit oversight, doesn’t deign to fund transit, then the MTA can balance its books through only fare hikes or service cuts. This isn’t complicated policy; it’s simple economics.
For its part, the MTA says it “welcomes” an audit and, in fact, is the subject of numerous audits conducted at both the state and city level. “At the same time, this current administration has undertaken the most aggressive cost-cutting initiative in the history of the MTA, leading to more than $700 million in recurring annual cost savings,” MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said to Newsday.
A forensic audit is all well and good, but what will be the point? Thomas DiNapoli will discover that, shockingly enough, the MTA wastes money. He’ll discover that the authority has redundant staffing levels, that its corporate structure was built through combining six different entities into one with little to no consolidation. He’ll find wasteful policies and poor capital oversight on the part of the state, and a state-mandated bidding process that doesn’t leave the MTA with the best possible contractors.
Of course, lawmakers won’t be satisfied with a forensic audit. If given the chance, they’ll move to repeal the payroll tax entirely. That’s why Nassau County and the Town of Chester, among other municipalities, are joining a suit to halt the payroll tax. If successful — which they probably won’t be — what would happen?
As I’ve mentioned over the past few days, the MTA is relying on the payroll tax for up to $1.5 billion a year over the next four years. In 2011, the payroll tax is expected to be over 27 percent of total government subsidies for the MTA’s operating budget. Were the state to repeal it without an adequate replacement source of revenue, the consequences would be disastrous. The MTA would either have to raise fares by 30 percent, slash service to levels never seen before in New York or begin to contemplate defaulting on its payments.
So politicians can beat their anti-tax drums. Republicans can speak out against it; Andrew Cuomo doesn’t have to embrace it. But without this necessary evil, the MTA won’t be a fiscally viable agency. Give me congestion pricing. Give me East River Bridge Tolls. Just don’t take away the payroll tax.
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