Gov. Paterson’s proposed $121 billion budget hits New Yorkers in their iPods – and nickels-and-dimes them in lots of other places, too.
Trying to close a $15.4 billion budget gap, Paterson called for 88 new fees and a host of other taxes, including an “iPod tax” that taxes the sale of downloaded music and other “digitally delivered entertainment services.”
“We’re going to have to take some extreme measures,” Paterson said Tuesday after unveiling the slash-and-burn budget.
The proposal, which needs legislative approval, did not include broad-based income tax increases, but relied on smaller ones to raise $4.1 billion from cash-strapped New Yorkers.
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Movie tickets, taxi rides, soda, beer, wine, cigars and massages would be taxed under Paterson’s proposal. It also extends sales taxes to cable and satellite TV services and removes the tax exemption for clothes costing less than $110.
“The governor is nickel-and-diming working class families,” said Ron Deutsch, executive director of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, an advocacy group.
State Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long warned that reinstating the sales tax on clothing and shoes will drive people to New Jersey, where they will also gas up their cars and pick up their wine, spirits and soda because the prices are less due to lower taxes. “You’re sending notice to the people of New York that we really don’t want you here,” Long said. “The governor proposed flat spending, but why not actually cut the budget before raising taxes and fees?”
December 17th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Whoah! The NYS Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for 07 showed a surplus of over $100 Billion… Google search CAFR, Scroogle search CAFR… Yahoo search CAFR… Every state has one! I guess selective sight and selective hearing apply to all officials whenever CAFR is the subject in question.
December 17th, 2008 at 11:58 am
I’m gettin real sick and tired of every branch of government considering a lack of a spending increase as a “cut” in spending. A real spending “cut” would mean spending LESS on government administration costs and entitlement programs. As the taxpayers are forced to cut their expenditures due to adverse circumstances, so should the government. All politicians should start out with a 20% pay CUT. And I don’t mean working one day a week less, they work little enough as it is. I mean same output for 20% less pay and benefits. If they don’t like it, they can always seek work in the private sector. Good luck. There is real competition in the private sector.
These tax increases just show how out of touch these government types really are. They’re going to find out that these tax increases are going to backfire on them as the public begins to boycot things that are taxed, or seeks them elsewhere. There will be even LESS money in their coffers as the public wakes up.
Course that could become a problem once Obama and Gore ram a CO2 tax through our liberal congress. We’ll all have to learn to hold our breath and let the politicians pay through the nose for all the hot air they blow.
Course they’ll probably exempt themselves from the carbon tax, for the public good of course!