Thomas Barraga of Suffolk, the ranking Republican on the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, along with his colleagues in the Assembly's Republican Long Island delegation, sponsored a recent hearing on the proposed reinstatement of a commuter tax on Long Island residents who work in New York City. Held in Northport Jan. 23, local elected officials, including Assemblywoman Maureen O'Connell, attended.

The commuter tax was originally instated in 1966 as a temporary tax on New York State residents who work in New York City but live outside the five boroughs. In 1966, the tax was .025 percent on wages and .375 percent on net earnings for the self-employed. The "temporary" set of rates increased to .45 percent on wages and .65 percent on net earning from self-employment in 1973.

In 1999, over 30 years later, Governor George Pataki signed into law legislation which eliminated the tax, saving commuters from Nassau County approximately $77 million a year and about $210 million for all New York commuters. Nassau County commuters were paying approximately 21 percent of the tax revenues while Suffolk was paying about eight percent.

Last year, New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, in calculating his budget, proposed to not just reinstate the commuter tax, but to increase it to 2.7 percent for city non-residents. At the same time, which puzzles many officials, he said he planned to lower the income tax for city residents.

Included on the hearing panel with Assemblyman Barraga (R,C,RTL-West Islip) and Assemblywoman O'Connell (R,C,I-East Williston) were James D. Conte (R-Huntington), Steve Labriola (R-Massapequa), David McDonough (R,C,I-Merrick), Andrew Raia (R,C-East Northport), Michael Fitzpatrick (R,C-Smithtown), Patricia L. Acampora (R,I,C-Mattituck) and Fred W. Thiele Jr. (R,I,WF-Sag Harbor).

Many assembly members agreed that reinstating such a tax would be extremely detrimental to both commuters and city businesses. They stated that jobs could even be lost because companies would say that the cost of doing business and keeping employees would be too great a burden. In addition, they felt that non-residents already contribute a great deal of cash flow to New York City.

"Hard working Long Islanders who commute already support the New York City economy every time they go to lunch or purchase an item at a store near their place of business," O'Connell said. "I remain adamantly opposed to the reinstatement of the commuter tax. There are other ways to help New York City resolve its fiscal problems and I am prepared to explore those avenues."

If the tax were to be enacted at the proposed 2.7 percent rate, a person with an annual income of $30,000 would pay $810 a year. A person with an annual income of $50,000 would pay $1,350, and a person with a $70,000 yearly income would pay $1,890 in taxes.

Overall, the Jan. 23 hearing affirmed that residents and public officials alike are against the tax, assembly members agreed.

"We voted to repeal the commuter tax in 1999 because it unfairly penalized Long Island taxpayers for not living in New York City," Barraga said. "I expect this to be a big issue this upcoming session, and as the ranking member of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, I will have considerable input during the debate process that takes place before the bill is sent to the Assembly floor for a vote. This hearing will give me the opportunity to obtain first-hand evidence of how this tax will affect local governments, businesses and organizations."

Many local public officials gave testimony during the hearing, including representatives for Suffolk County Executive, Town Councilmembers from Suffolk County, Nassau Deputy Presiding Officer Roger Corbin and a representative from Senator Carl Marcellino's office. Representatives from numerous local businesses also provided testimony, including Mitch Pally of the Long Island Association and Warren Tackenberg of the Village Association of Nassau County. Members of Suffolk government gave the majority of the testimony, speaking of the fact that the tax would just be an additional cost on top of taxes that they have to impose locally.