Well, I don't think anyone ever thought the ferry would stay free forever. But still, sometimes a girl like to dream. The Independent Budget Office offered among one of its many creative ways to raise money, charging for the now free Staten Island ferry. All I can see this doing is decreasing the number of people who ride it and thus making it not worth the effort and in turn leading to it being decommissioned like so many other ferries in the region. But I could be wrong. Maybe people would pay $4 just to ride the ferry. I, however, would not. Full story below:
NEW YORK (AP) — If the city is looking for ways to pinch pennies in tough times, an independent budget agency has a few ideas: taxes on cosmetic surgery, laundry services and luxury apartment rentals, charging tourists to ride the Staten Island ferry and collecting fees from residents based on how much garbage they throw out.
The Independent Budget Office, a city agency that does not report to the mayor, on Wednesday laid out 63 proposals in its report entitled “Budget Options for New York City.”
The report stressed that the agency’s economists and analysts do not endorse any of the ideas but simply present them, along with projected savings and arguments for and against.
While many of the proposals are unlikely to be enacted, Mayor Michael Bloomberg often says he appreciates creative thinking — particularly in finding new ways to save money and bring in more revenue.
And Bloomberg has increasingly warned that the city could be facing a precarious economic situation. Last month he presented a budget plan for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, that demands cuts from every city agency.
The Independent Budget Office report looked at a variety of ways the city could find savings or generate new income. Many seem to be targeted toward the rich, like a proposed tax on luxury apartments.
Owners of units that rent for more than $3,000 per month would pay a 1 percent tax; with an estimated 50,000 such apartments in the city, this tax would raise approximately $24.2 million in 2009, the report said, and would only grow as the number of luxury apartments — and their base rent — also increases.
Or what about a tax on cosmetic procedures, both surgical and nonsurgical — like Botox, chemical peels and facials? The report estimates more than $1.4 billion was generated in the city in 2006 for cosmetic procedures by board-certified physicians, and much more by those who are not certified, such as facialists.
The report estimates $65 million annually could be generated by such a tax.
Another idea is to tax services such as laundering, dry cleaning, tailoring, shoe repairing and shoe shining.
The budget office projects that applying the sales tax to these services could bring in about $40 million annually, and it notes that the bulk of these taxes would be paid by “more affluent consumers who use such services more frequently.”
Another idea is a “pay as you throw” program that charges households for waste disposal, based on how much garbage they throw out.
Some cities, such as San Francisco and Seattle, already have versions of this program, the report noted. In New York, a household would pay an average of $91 a year, netting the city a savings of $296 million. It could also have the added environmental benefit of more awareness about trash and recycling and an overall reduction in waste.
One proposal that New Yorkers may favor — but those outside the city might not like — is to charge tourists to ride the Staten Island ferry, which is now free to the millions of commuters and tourists who ride it each year.
Of the 19 million riders each year, an estimated 3.6 million are from outside the metro area, the report said. Imposing a round-trip $4 fare on those outsiders, while also charging regular commuters a nominal fee for an annual pass, would bring in an estimated $3.4 million annually.
