The mayor voiced strong support yesterday for the reinstatement of the commuter tax, a levy on commuters who live outside the five boroughs but work in the city. A commuter tax would do little to help traffic, but would generate revenue for the cash-starved city from suburbanites.

The state Legislature repealed the 30-year-old commuter tax in 1999 as part of a highly politicized effort to influence a suburban Senate race. Since then, efforts to reimpose the tax have been consistently rebuffed.

The old commuter tax - equal to 0.45% - would generate roughly $500 million in annual revenue for the city, which faces an estimated $4.5 billion deficit in the fiscal year beginning July 1....

"What we need is a commuter tax, and I fought for that a long time," he said. "We'll continue to fight for a commuter tax - that's the way to solve some of these problems."

posted by tparty at 11:25 AM