The sign, held by Long Island Wine Council president Chris Baiz and written in black marker, read “No Trax, No Tax.”
Mr. Baiz was one of a dozen people who spoke at the press event at Digger O'Dell's on West Main Street. The speakers, mainly lawmakers and business representatives, expressed outrage that eastern Long Island governments, schools and businesses are being asked to pay an MTA payroll tax while the transit authority is proposing to virtually eliminate LIRR service east of Ronkonkoma.
State officials say they will fight to see the tax repealed.
“We want to mobilize all of the factions that are effected by this so we can continue to speak with one voice,” said state Senator Kenn LaValle (R-Port Jefferson), who organized the event.
Last month, the MTA proposed the service cuts to help it close a $400 million budget shortfall. That plan was unveiled just months after the state approved a tax that forces all businesses in New York City and surrounding counties, including Suffolk, to pay the MTA 34 cents for every $100 it spends on payroll.
“It's sadly ironic that this authority that has been so mismanaged, so bloated, right now is asking the private sector, the businesses who have to struggle every single day…to bail them out,” said newly elected state Assemblyman Dean Murray (R-East Patchogue).
Governor David Paterson earlier this month proposed a 2010-11 budget amendment that would reduce the tax for businesses outside the city to .17 percent, while increasing it to .54 percent for New York City businesses.
Those present Friday morning said Mr. Paterson's proposal does not go far enough.
“This is a fight about what is wrong in government,” said Assemblyman Marc Alessi (D-Shoreham.)
Talks of creating a Peconic Bay Regional Transit Authority, which local officials believe could be run cheaper and more efficiently than the MTA, also resumed during the event.
Creating a separate authority, and no longer paying taxes to the MTA, is the only solution to providing acceptable public transportation on the North and South forks, some lawmakers believe.
“We will provide the public transportation that the East End deserves,” vowed county Legislator Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches), whose district covers the North Fork and Shelter Island. “It is time to leave the MTA well behind.”
Earlier this month, Mr. LaValle introduced a bill in the Senate that would put a referendum on the November ballot asking residents of the five East End towns to consider the creation of a Peconic Bay Transit Authority. Mr. Alessi and Assemblyman Fred Thiele (I-Sag Harbor) cosponsored a similar bill in the Assembly.
The payroll tax could not have come at a worse economic time, officials agreed.
Many of Friday's speakers echoed Mr. LaValle's statement when he said the payroll tax was “a job-killing tax.”
“For every 18 jobs in agriculture, we could have two more without this tax,” Mr. Baiz said.
William Schoolman of the Hampton Luxury Liners, which provides bus service between the East End and New York City, filed a lawsuit against the MTA last year because he thought it unconstitutional to force his company to pay a tax to a direct competitor. Mr. Schoolman said that unfair taxes like the payroll tax were one of the reasons it is so difficult for small business to survive in New York.
“I had to write a check to subsidize my competitor,” he said. “The MTA is a bully.”
vchinese@timesreview.com