Sniping between the pataki and Whitman administrations at the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey has extended to yet another proposed port lease on the New Jersey side of the river.
At issue is the 154-acre terminal at Port Newark vacated by Maersk when it merged with rival Sea-Land Service. New York officials say the bids from shippers for the vacant terminal were more than $60,000 an acre, or three times greater than what the Port Authority agreed to accept in order to renew Maersk Sealand at its 350-acre terminal in Port Elizabeth. The bids, they say, show that the agency is not getting enough from the Maersk Sealand deal.
New Jersey officials say that's an unfair comparison. They say that when the Maersk agreement was negotiated three years ago, the market was far different. They add that the Maersk deal, which is aimed at keeping the shipper from moving to Baltimore, has helped make the port more attractive.
Insiders say the agency staff has recommended giving the lease for the empty terminal to shipper P&O Nedlloyd. However, that lease, like all other major Port Authority projects, is on hold because of the continuing interstate dispute over the Maersk lease.
ENERGY TAXES
The gradual elimination of the sales tax on energy approved in the state budget will cost state and local governments significant amounts of revenue by 2004, when the exemption becomes fully effective.
State budget officials say the state could lose as much as $150 million over the next four years, depending on how many users switch to retail suppliers. The impact is even greater for New York City, which, unlike the state, imposes the sales tax on residential and commercial electric customers.
City officials estimate that the revenue loss will be between $10 million and $20 million next year and will grow to $150 million by 2004.
The sales tax was reimposed on April 1 for the first time since retail electric sales were deregulated. Under the state budget, the tax will be reduced by 25% a year until it is fully eliminated in September 2004.
ACUPUNCTURE
The Assembly Committee on Higher Education holds a hearing May 24 to get information on the practice of acupuncture in New York state. State law governing acupuncture is about a decade old, and legislators are seeking to determine whether it should be revised, says Assemblyman Edward C. Sullivan, D-Manhattan, committee chair.
Information gathered at the hearing will be used to determine whether doctors and dentists who practice acupuncture get sufficient training, and whether other health care providers should be allowed to perform acupuncture.
SCHOOL BUDGETS
Proposed school budgets around the state would increase local property taxes at more than twice the inflation rate, according to a study by the think tank of the Business Council of New York State. The budget increases, which will be put to local voters on May 16, would be in addition to the $1.2 billion in extra local school aid included in the new state budget.
According to a study by the Public Policy Institute, the average increase in proposed property tax levies would be 4.9%, while inflation is projected to be 2.5% this year. According to Daniel Walsh, the business council president, the data show that local districts are undermining Gov. George Pataki's STAR property tax reduction program, which was aimed at using state resources to lower local property taxes.
PARKING FINES
Collections from parking fines are down, but taxi license and telephone commission fees are up so far this year, according to a list of miscellaneous revenues released by city Comptroller Alan Hevesi.
From July through February, the city collected $257 million in parking fees-nearly $4.3 million less than budget projections.
New York Law School publication CityLaw says, ``The comptroller reports that so far the city issued 93,000 fewer summonses than this time last year, suggesting that a springtime ticket blitz may be in the wind. Parkers beware.''
TAX LAW CHANGES
The state Department of Taxation and Finance has set up a task force to redraw the state's tax laws in the wake of repeal of the federal Glass-Steagall Act and deregulation of the securities industry. Representatives of affected industries, including banks and securities firms, and business groups like the New York City Partnership and Chamber of Commerce, are on the panel.
As a temporary fix, the Legislature last week passed a ``hold harmless'' bill so tax liabilities will remain as they are until a new tax structure can be approved. Banks and securities firms are taxed differently under state law, and some of these firms could have faced unintended tax increases as they reorganized under financial deregulation.
Passage of the ``hold harmless'' bill was a major priority of the partnership, which warned that the threat of new state tax liabilities was making some New York banks and securities firms reluctant to restructure under the new federal law.
INKLESS FINGERPRINTS
The banking industry is reviving the practice of ``inkless fingerprints'' to weed out check-cashing fraud.
In 1987, New York banks tested the technology, which involves obtaining a fingerprint from a non-
accountholder who wants to cash a check at a bank. But the industry scrapped it in favor of other technologies, the American Banking Association says.
The rebirth of inkless fingerprint pads began in 1997 with the Bank of America in Nevada, and the practice is now making its way back to New York, the ABA says. Buffalo-based M&T Bank has begun requiring non-accountholders to provide fingerprints when cashing checks in western New York branches and is planning to follow suit in branches across the state. M&T says the technology has already led to several arrests in Buffalo.
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий