In response to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposed $1 billion tax for Long Island commuters who travel to New York City for work, Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray and Councilwoman Angie Cullin vehemently opposed the tax.

In a letter drafted to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Governor George Pataki, Murray stated that "it is unacceptable that New York City would contemplate balancing its budget on the backs of suburban commuters. Long Island residents already support the city by shopping, dining and patronizing the theater and sporting events."

Murray also attached the names of 13,000 town residents who are against the proposed commuter tax, which Murray estimated would cost the average Long Island commuter earning an annual salary of $50,000, an additional $1,300 in taxes.

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 rates increased to .45 on wages and .65 percent on net earnings from self-employed.

In 1999, Pataki signed into law legislation that eliminated the tax, saving commuters from Nassau County approximately $77 million a year. As a member of the assembly, Murray voted to repeal the tax.

However, last year, Bloomberg, in calculating his budget, proposed to not just reinstate the commuter tax, but to increase it to 2.7 percent for non-city residents. Murray points out that the commuter tax is being proposed while an income tax cut for city residents is also being proposed.

"This is an especially hard blow for Nassau County residents who, on average pay $7,000 in property taxes compared to New York City's average property tax, which is only $1,900," Murray said.

Nassau County residents may be feeling the effects of high taxes even without a commuter tax. In Pataki's proposed 2003-2004 state budget, school aid has been cut so that school districts may not be receiving the same amount of aid as they did in the past.

"I can't overstate how important it is that this tax not be reinstated. The tax burden is ever increasing for property owners on Long Island and certainly a large portion of that increase comes from our local school districts. If the school aid were to be cut, it seems only natural that school boards may be forced to have even bigger increases. If that's the case, that's an added burden on our property owners. Certainly, another commuter tax on top of that just adds [to the burden]," Murray said.

It seems unlikely, however, that a commuter tax would come to fruition considering that Bruno and Pataki have come out against the proposal. Local elected officials such as Senator Dean Skelos and Assemblyman Tom Alfano have also come out in opposition of the proposed tax. "These petitions show that the people of our community are against any reinstatement of the commuter tax," said Alfano "We can't balance budgets on the backs of middle class families."