Recently, you may have noticed that your utility bills are now featuring a new fee called the “Utility Tax Service Conservation Assessment.” As if the increased fees at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) were not bad enough, the state has implemented this new fee as well. Along with the DMV fees, this utility fee was included in this year’s budget, which I voted against. I am urging for the repeal of this assessment so that we are not throwing additional fees onto the backs of already struggling New Yorkers.
In addition to the conservation assessment, there is a new tax that affects the rates at which consumers are being charged due to increases the state is applying to the utility’s gross intrastate revenues assessment. These taxes are expected to generate $520 million over a five-year period, which means that it is the single largest tax passed in this year’s budget and will affect everyone who pays utility bills.
Not only do these taxes negatively affect individual New Yorkers, but they also will place a large burden on New York businesses. Small businesses are already struggling due to the high cost of energy and poor economy so to place another onerous tax upon them will only serve to drive even more businesses out of New York. In a time when the “economic stimulus” is supposed to be helping our state through hard economic times, these new taxes are counterintuitive to what the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act was designed to accomplish.
These taxes are just another example for the need to have a more transparent budget process. The days of the “three-men-in-a-room” budget negotiation should be over. Time and time again we are seeing the negative results of this type of reckless budget process. Every state legislator needs to be involved in budget talks so that all areas of New York State are properly represented, not just New York City.
As always, if you have questions or comments about this or any state issue, please contact me at either my Johnstown office at (518) 762-6486, or Herkimer office at (315) 866-1632.