Pay it upward Published: Friday, June 10, 2011, 8:59 AM
By
Staten Island Advance Editorial
The concept of “pay it forward,” as put forth in a 1999 novel and 2000 movie of the same name, is wonderfully uplifting: Everyone who commits to participate pledges to do good deeds for other people, even complete strangers. The multiplier effect results in a nicer world. Lately, government entities have been using a far less benign version of this concept to address their budget issues: Call it “pay it upward.” Government has budget shortfalls, so it attempts to close those gaps by unilaterally imposing higher taxes, fees, fares and tolls, etc. on people, who are required by law to pay those various and sundry charges. Officials have no problem justifying these hikes - at least to themselves. Of course, all the ordinary people who are required to pay these taxes, fees, fares and tolls are facing their own budgetary issues these days. But they’re at the bottom of the pay-it-upward ladder. They can’t charge higher fees to anyone below them. So they have no place to turn for more revenue themselves. We’ve seen it countless times with the Metropolitan Transpiration Authority, which seems to have a perennial budget crisis. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has also sought to solve the city’s budget problems by putting an ever-heavier burden on the backs of rank-and-file New Yorkers. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey always seemed to be the exception. For one thing, the P.A. had its financial act together in recent years. For another, the authority focuses on the region’s economy and always seemed to grasp how higher tolls sabotage growth. But now, the P.A., saddled with the mammoth cost of building the new World Trade Center and steeply reduced revenues, is facing its own budget issues. And, according to reports, the agency is looking to alleviate the budgetary stress by raising tolls on its six New York-New Jersey crossings by up to 25 percent by the end of the year. That would hike the top toll for cars on those crossings from $8 to $10. Proportional increases are expected to imposed on discounted and truck tolls.
Page 30 of 170