Congestion pricing is a bad idea, raising taxes is even worse

Gov. Hochul says she’s going to make the MTA good for its loss of congestion-pricing-toll income, but Albany needs to find the money within the record-breaking budget it already has.

State leaders always seems to find a spare billion or two for boondoggles in Buffalo; rather than add a dime in new taxes or fees “to fund the MTA,” they can go pound sand.

Increase the MTA-region “mobility tax”?

That’s basically an added tax on employment, and thus a downer for the metro-area economy — exactly what Hochul realized the tolls would mean.

Replace the income from the state’s reserve funds?

Maybe, but the MTA’s plan was to use the expected $1 billion-a-year funding stream as leverage to borrow billions upfront, and so fund its capital spending — including vital maintenance. Unless it’s a guaranteed funding stream, it can’t fund borrowing.