May 2, 2009 8:23 am US/Eastern
Bloomberg's Budget Plan Calls For Sales Tax Hike
Mayor Stays Away From Proposals To Raise Tax On Rich
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Get ready to pay more. The budget crisis is hitting New York City hard and Mayor Michael Bloomberg is revealing his budget proposals at City Hall on Friday afternoon. (File)
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to take more cash from your wallet every time you shop in New York City.
His budget proposal unveiled Friday doubles the sales tax hike he first proposed a few months ago.
The economy is bad, but so is letting crime go up if you cut cops or not educating our kids if you cut teachers, so Mayor Bloomberg decided to raise the sales tax so he didn't have to take an ax to city services.
"Is it a good tax? No, none of these taxes are good," the mayor said on Friday.
The mayor said he chose the sales tax -- it will go up half a percent to 8.875 percent -- since the state already raised income taxes on people making over $250,000 and he didn't want to raise property taxes any higher.
"When you ask the public far and away they prefer sales taxes to other taxes if they have to have a tax," Bloomberg said.
Is he right? Sometimes.
"I'm an advocate for the city needing the revenue," said Steve Leader of the Upper West Side. "It needs to operate appropriately in terms of security, in terms of health, safety and welfare."
"This isn't a good time to do that," said Frank Ringuette of Bayside. "Everyone's so stressed out right now, you know, with paying bills and commuting in and out of the city."
"Every little bit helps and if it's not big numbers it's not the end of the world," store owner Donna Schofield added.
"I think it's not such a good idea, especially now with the recession," said boutique owner Patricia Taieb. "You know business is just starting to pick up a little bit and it may set us back a little bit."
Some City Council members prefer taxing the rich.
"Look, we know that things are bad here but I think asking people to pay 9 percent, almost 9 percent in sales tax is a shocking, a shocking number," Councilman Lewis Fidler, D-Brooklyn, said.
"I'd love to see the commuter tax come back," Councilman David Weprin, D-Queens, said. "When we had a non-resident income tax it was the fairest tax."
Before the mayor can enact a sales tax hike he needs a green light from Albany and a majority vote from the City Council.
The mayor's budget will also make shoppers pay 5 cents for plastic bags.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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