Tax Packages In NYC To Help Save MTA, Lawmaker Says

New York City NY

08 December, 2020

3:39 PM

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NEW YORK CITY — A $16 billion budget hole at MTA could be partly filled one $3 package surcharge per delivery in New York City. Brooklyn Assembly Member Robert Carroll floated the package tax in a New York Daily News op-ed co-penned with transit union leader John Samuelsen. "There is one option that would raise more than $1 billion a year for the city's subway and bus system — while also supporting small businesses and protecting the environment: a $3 surcharge on packages ordered online for delivery in New York City, excluding those with medicine or food," they wrote. The proposal is tied with a bill introduced last year by Carroll. Even back then, MTA faced fiscal hardships — and the deficit has only grown as ridership cratered amid the coronavirus crisis. MTA board members have spent months warning of a doomsday scenario — 40 percent service cuts, massive layoffs and more — if the federal government doesn't come through with $12 billion in aid. Carroll and Samuelsen wrote a tax packages ordered online and delivered in New York City — of which there are 1.8 million a day — could be part of a solution. It'd also have the side effect of reducing the number of delivery trucks and vans on city streets, encouraging large companies like Amazon to find efficient, environmentally-friendly ways to ship packages and incentivize some New Yorkers to shop local instead. "They might be reminded how local mom-and-pop stores, and bigger retailers like Bloomingdales and Macy's, are part of what makes a city dynamic, diverse and interesting," the op-ed states. "These businesses also employ our neighbors." But not all New Yorkers found the proposal to be a win for the little guy. "Or you could just tax the rich?" tweeted one Twitter user under a NBC4 story about the proposal. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also responded, arguing it'd be a tax on the poor and working class. "Maybe instead of taxing people who need baby formula and essential goods, we tax those who have profited billions from a global pandemic?" she tweeted. You know why all this backlash happens when we say "Tax the Rich?" Because the unquestionable norm is to tax the poor & working class. Maybe instead of taxing people who need baby formula and essential goods, we tax those who have profited billions from a global pandemic? https://t.co/daAXNMAQD0— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 8, 2020 Carroll responded that the tax wouldn't apply to food and other essential items. He also tweeted that he drafted a bill to tax Amazon and co-sponsored bills to tax billionaires, millionaires, Pied-à-Terres and stock transfers. "I support taxing the rich but I also support taxing things like gasoline bc they have societal costs," he tweeted. "We can & should tax both. The surcharge will make our air cleaner, streets safer & help thousands of small biz." The surcharge exempts food/medicine & other essential items. I support taxing the rich but I also support taxing things like gasoline bc they have societal costs. We can & should tax both. The surcharge will make our air cleaner, streets safer & help thousands of small biz. https://t.co/tmLgfBHfEK— Assemblymember Robert Carroll (@Bobby4Brooklyn) December 8, 2020