Comments on: The Ravitch Plan: One Small Business Perspective http://blog.tstc.org/2009/02/24/the-ravitch-plan-one-small-business-perspective/ News and opinion from the Tri-State Transportation Campaign Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:36:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 By: Streetsblog » Today’s Headlines http://blog.tstc.org/2009/02/24/the-ravitch-plan-one-small-business-perspective/comment-page-1/#comment-1045 Streetsblog » Today’s Headlines Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:30:20 +0000 http://blog.tstc.org/?p=3594#comment-1045 [...] TSTC's Perspective on the Ravitch Payroll Tax (MTR) [...] [...] TSTC’s Perspective on the Ravitch Payroll Tax (MTR) [...]

]]> By: Larry Littlefield http://blog.tstc.org/2009/02/24/the-ravitch-plan-one-small-business-perspective/comment-page-1/#comment-1044 Larry Littlefield Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:20:18 +0000 http://blog.tstc.org/?p=3594#comment-1044 The proposed tax would be borrowed against under the Ravitch Plan, with the bonds used to pay for five years of capital expenditures, most of which is ongoing normal replacement. Are you willing to talk about what no one seems to care about? What happens in five years? Another 0.33%? Or will it be another 0.5%, since everything will already be tolled? And what about five years after that? The current MTA budget, moreover, both underestimates the cost of pensions and retiree heatlh care and overestimates dedicated tax revenues. The "solution" will be to reduce the portion of the payroll tax and tolls that are used for capital expenditures, and we will be borrowing for operating funds while deferring maintenance. The proposed tax would be borrowed against under the Ravitch Plan, with the bonds used to pay for five years of capital expenditures, most of which is ongoing normal replacement.

Are you willing to talk about what no one seems to care about? What happens in five years? Another 0.33%? Or will it be another 0.5%, since everything will already be tolled?

And what about five years after that?

The current MTA budget, moreover, both underestimates the cost of pensions and retiree heatlh care and overestimates dedicated tax revenues. The “solution” will be to reduce the portion of the payroll tax and tolls that are used for capital expenditures, and we will be borrowing for operating funds while deferring maintenance.

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