SOME PROPOSED STATE TAXES DIDN’T QUITE MAKE THE CUT

By Frank Thomas Croisdale

There will be no need to ask your friends what they got for Christmas this year — not if they live in New York state, anyway.  

What the good denizens of the Empire State will find tucked into their stockings this Dec. 25 is a host of new taxes proposed by Gov. David Paterson as a means to close a $15.4 billion deficit. 

Among the proposed new taxes are a number of novelties. Sugary sodas would be taxed at 18 percent. Haircuts would now be fair game for the taxman, as would clothing and footwear priced under $110. The gasoline tax cap of 8 percent would be eliminated. 

Many people were blindsided by the governor’s proposal and are in shock at the thought of being charged more by a state that already taxes at a rate among the highest in the union. 

Heard at barber shops and watering holes around the Empire State this past week were comments like “What else can they possibly tax us for?” 

It’s not uncommon for delicate and confidential documents to make their way under the door of the Reporter’s office inside the trendy Niagara Business Center. Such was the case this past week when an envelope arrived containing Paterson’s first draft of proposed tax increases. If you think having to pony up a few extra pennies for your RC Cola is ridiculous, just wait until you get a load of what’s on the cutting room floor. 

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