Metro

Gov’s new ‘fast’ tax: surcharge on speeders in state budget

ALBANY — The state budget creates a new $25 state surcharge for speeding motorists who plead down to the common lesser charge of “parking on pavement,” The Post has learned.

And the existing $80 state surcharge for those convicted of speeding and for speeders who plead down to “failure to obey a traffic device” will zoom up to $88 — a 10 percent increase.

The $25 million annually that the new charges are expected to yield will go to the state’s general fund.

Sources tracking the budget said the sneaky tax came as a surprise, but Gov. Cuomo insisted it’s all about safety.

In the wake of serious and fatal accidents caused by speeding, Cuomo pushed to require that anyone charged with driving more than 20 mph over the speed limit receive additional “points,” which results in higher car-insurance bills.

But lawmakers would only agree to the surcharges, which adds to fines imposed by local jurisdictions.

Cuomo budget spokesman Morris Peters said the state will also make sure traffic-court judges are made aware of accused speeders’ driving histories in the hopes that repeat offenders receive more than just a slap on the wrist.

The increased fines are among a raft of new fees and taxes in the $143 billion budget for the fiscal year that starts next month.

The plan isn’t sitting well with the influential state Conservative Party.

Longtime party chair Michael Long panned a minimum-wage hike and extensions of a utility surcharge and the state’s top income-tax rate, which are included in the budget on which lawmakers expect to finish voting this week.

“It’s too early to comprehend where we are [politically], where we’re going, but it’s fair enough to say we’re sorely disappointed with the budget at this stage of the game,” Long said yesterday.

His party’s ballot line can make or break vulnerable Republican state senators, who are part of the GOP’s last bastion of power in state government.

The GOP’s 30 state senators share control of the 63-seat chamber with a coalition of five breakaway Democrats and Simcha Felder, a conservative Brooklyn Democrat who caucuses with the Republicans.

Nassau County Conservative Chairman Dan Donovan said he’s willing to give Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos — a key budget architect — the chance to make amends.

“There’s a lot of time for him to go to confession and get absolution,” Donovan said of Skelos, who will need Nassau Conservatives’ support to get their ballot line next year.

“A lot of people, when their own goose might be cooked, look at things a little different. Let’s give him a chance. When that time comes, if we have to pull the trigger, we’ll pull the trigger.”