The controversial MTA payroll tax — which imposes a 34 cent tariff on every $100 that employers pay towards salaries — is unconstitutional, a state supreme court judge ruled today.
The ruling comes after several Long Island municipalities filed suit against the state legislature for imposing the tax in 2009.
They argued that Nassau County residents were unfairly burdened by the law, which applies only 12-counties in the MTA region.
Judge R. Bruce Cozzens found that the tax violated state law because it was passed without a “home rule” message, which allows the state to take up local matters.
“If this matter really is a substantial state concern, then the legislature could have reasonably taxed every county within the state under a general tax law,” he wrote in the decision.
The MTA said it expects the ruling to be overturned on appeal.
“We will vigorously appeal today’s ruling,” spokesman Adam Lisberg said.
“We believe this opinion will be overturned, since four prior challenges to the constitutionality of the law making the same argument have been dismissed.”
The mobility tax was passed to plug severe MTA budget shortfalls. It raises around $1.5 billion a year for the agency.