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Independent Budget Office, you so crazy! Your proposal to raise money for New York City has something for everyone. The Times gives a sampling of some possible revenue sources (reporter Michael McIntire has a nice zinger at the end):
Impose a 10-cents per cup tax on specialty coffee drinks; reinstate fares for the Staten Island ferry; end city subsidies for private school buses and textbooks; and eliminate grass clippings from trash collection. There is also a proposal to raise $1 million by adding cafes to 125 libraries where, presumably, the new latte tax could be collected on double caramel macchiatos.There's also a proposal to increase restaurant taxes! While much of it is for a good cause (funding our public schools and other programs), some suggestions are alarming, such as further increasing class room size. Gothamist doesn't think the IBO has thought about the consequences of these actions. People will be looking for underground plastic surgeons, performing liposuctions from 80s style offices, or, worse yet, going to New Jersey for cheaper deals. As for the "latte tax," caffeine addicts at offices will pool together their money to buy an office espresso machine (home use or commercial and create a microeconomy on the 10th floor. Luckily, these are all proposals for review, not actual proposals. Yet.
New Yorkish on the tax and Mayor Bloomberg's coffee jones.
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I can see it now: Fort Lee, NJ - Plastic Surgery Capital of North America.
Why is the staten island ferry free? $6 to drive there... just doesn't make sense.
Right just look at how the Stupid Seattle Latte Tax failed to pass. They wanted to tax coffee like it was a sin item to pay for a raise for low income child care workers. They should have just taxes toys and Minivans. It ends up no one wanted to work for minimum wage if they had to deal with crack babies all day.
Ending subsidies for private school buses and textbooks is definitely a good idea at least. However, many of the others are, as you explained, crazy.
woohoo!! coffee tax!! as long as bloomberg doesn't impose a pizza specific tax, i'll be fine.
and as far as i'm concerned, taxing coffee to help out child care is fine by me. it made sense to me in september.
Let's just put up toll booths on the sidewalks. Charge a nickel to use a trash can. A dime to use a filthy urinal at a LES bar. Two cents to use a crosswalk. And any woman caught wearing Ugg boots should be fined $20.
That should take care of any deficit in no time. The Ugg boot revenue alone could be a financial windfall.
The Mormons of Washington state were essential to getting the Latte tax on the ballot. I mean who else hates coffee more and were are only home to FREAKING STARBUCKS.
The subsidies for school buses and textbooks are specifically permitted under NY law. by the way, this is the same program under which school children receive MetroCards to take the subway to and from school. Certainly, there are legitimate policy questions about the subsidies for private schools. But cutting those expenditures will also have a substantial impact on one of Klein and Bloomberg's pet initiatives: expanding the number of public charter schools here in the city. The state's charter law provides that public charter schools receive in-kind textbook aid (that is, the district provides some of the kids' books) and transportation aid to the same extent that the local district provides these to non-public schools. The enthusiasm for these schools arises in part from the need to serve areas with a rapidly growing student population (e.g. portions of Queens), as charter schools provide additional capacity and can help relieve overcrowding. Plus Bloomberg the businessman and Klein the trustbuster are attracted to the idea that charter schools are schools of choice which effectively compete with the schools (especially those that are low-performing) to which the city's students are traditionally assigned. Not to mention they are less expensive: New York City's public charter schools only get paid $7,848 per student they serve, compared to the more than $9,000 per student that the city spends per-pupil on traditional public schools. For less money, New York's public charter schools have the flexibility to ensure that reading rugs get cleaned on a regular basis. Cutting the textbook assistance and transportation aid will have a substantial impact on public charter school's ability to serve the city's students. Cutting the subsidy may be penny-wise, but it is pound foolish.
Hey ! That's my coffee machine! It's AMAZING...
"Ending subsidies for private school buses and textbooks"
Uhh, no.
Bad enough parents with kids in private schools can't get a refund for something of absolutely no use to them.