ROGOWSKY OFFERS DEMOCRATIC PROPOSALS FOR SENSIBLE ENERGY POLICY
For Immediate Release: May 8, 2006
Contact: Marty Rogowsky, Tel: 914.9952834, Rogowsky@westchesterlegislators.com
County Legislator Martin Rogowsky (D, I, WF - Harrison), the Majority Leader, today announced two proposals by the Democratic majority to advance a more sensible energy policy.
"Our first proposal would introduce a flat County tax of eight cents on a gallon of gas instead of the current 3% of the sales price,” said Rogowsky. "An excise tax would eliminate the "windfall profits” to the County that result from rising gasoline prices. Under the current formula, as the price of a gallon of gas rises, so does the County’s sales tax revenue. With an excise tax, whether a consumer buys 10 gallons of gas today or next month, the County’s portion of the tax will remain stable and will no longer contribute to the escalating costs of a gallon of gas.”
Rogowsky was quick to add that the majority’s flat tax proposal would continue the current policy of sharing sales tax revenue with local governments and school districts. “Of the eight cents collected on each gallon, one cent will be distributed to local governments and one cent to school districts,” said Rogowsky. “It would not trigger the need for local governments and school districts to raise property taxes, the way the Republican proposal would."
Rogowsky was referring to the recent Republican proposal to totally suspend the County sales tax on gasoline for four months. “A total suspension of the County sales tax on gas would severely and negatively impact the budgets of local governments and school districts. These entities would lose a revenue stream that they planned their budgets on. They would have to raise property taxes to make up for the revenue shortfall. Subsidizing the cost of gasoline with higher property taxes is a regressive tax policy that amounts to a temporary fix. Like the failed $100 rebate recently proposed by Republicans on the national level, suspending the County sales tax would be a political quick fix rather than sound energy policy.”
"To reduce our nation’s dependence on oil, we need an energy policy based on driving less in more fuel-efficient cars,” Rogowsky said.
The Democratic majority’s second proposal focuses on giving consumers an incentive to buy more fuel-efficient vehicles by offering a County sales tax rebate of up to $500 on the purchase of vehicles that get no less than 37 mpg. “We will refund only the County share of the sales tax so there will be no fiscal impact on our towns and villages or our school districts,” Rogowsky said. “We placed $250,000 in the 2006 County Budget to fund this policy. Instead of subsidizing the cost of gasoline as the Republican proposal does, our proposal subsidizes the purchase of fuel efficient vehicles.”
Rogowsky said he and his fellow Democrats are disappointed that New York State has failed to introduce similar incentives to encourage the purchase of fuel-efficient cars. "The federal government has taken limited steps and New York has failed to act. We at the County level stand ready to do what we can to encourage an energy policy that will both protect consumers and reduce gas consumption.”
