Nov 24, 2008 11:16 am US/Eastern
NYC Comptroller Proposes Vehicle Registration Hike
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
The way the MTA sees it, it's their way or the highway.
The agency maintains that there's only one way out of it's billion-dollar debt: increasing fares and cutting back service.
NYC's comptroller says he's got a better option.
"We propose an additional weight-based transit-dedicated assessment," William Thompson, Jr. said.
Average New York drivers would have to pay an additional $200 when they register their vehicle every two years.
They would pay less if their cars weigh less, and a few hundred dollars more if their cars weigh more.
"This regional plan could potentially generate additional annual revenue of roughly $350 million from city residents," Thompson said.
The 12 counties where car owners would be affected: all five boroughs of New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, Putnam, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, and Dutchess.
Many car owners that drive into the city say it would be unfair for them to pay for a public transportation system that they don't even use.
"The insurance rates are already high in New York as it is, so it's not fair," Jackson Heights resident Robert Bermudez said.
The comptroller's plan also calls for bringing back the commuter tax, which taxes those who live outside New York City.
The MTA says it welcomes alternative proposals from any elected officials while it awaits the recommendations from a special commission, due next month.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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