Mobility tax, other fees to prop up flailing MTA even after congestion toll but Hochuls plans remain secret

Gov.Kathy Hochul is considering hiking a dreaded tax on businesses to prop up the flailing Metropolitan Transportation Authority in a scramble to fill a whopping $33-billion budget hole, sources said — but the governor’s so far keeping her plans secret.Hochul’s budget director has admitted fees and taxes will be needed to feed the MTA’s massive capital spending and that remains the reality despite the Sunday launch of the governor’s new hated — but cash-generating — $9 congestion toll.The Democrat is again considering increasing the payroll mobility tax, which she had floated last summer to boost revenue source when she delayed the rollout of the congestion toll just then immediately resurrected it after the 2024 elections.New Yorkers may soon end up getting squeezed by both the toll and the same tax increase that was floated as an alternative to the toll mere months ago, insiders and critics said.“The MTA operates like the mob,” Councilman Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island) said.

“The Congestion Capo, Janno Lieber, is ready to extort the public the minute after they start paying off the first debt.It’s an endless cycle.”The MTA is desperate for an infusion of cash to fuel a Hochul-backed $68 billion capital plan and how to do that is front-and-center in the minds as state lawmakers return to Albany this week but sources said it’s possible the list of new fees and taxes may be decided in closed-door negotiations.Hochul’s office has refused to say whether she’ll even release a proposal to make up the mammoth MTA funding gap, but sources said the governor is likely to take up a larger payroll tax on businesses after the mobility tax was just hiked in 2022.

The new fees may go beyond just the five boroughs, experts said.“The only thing certain is that this will not be a repeat of two years ago, when there was an increase in the payroll mobility tax exclusively imposed on New York City-based corporations,” said Kathy Wylde, CEO of the Part...