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Harry Wilson Holds Suffolk County Small Business Forum on Job-Killing MTA Payroll Tax

Posted by Team Wilson - Wed, October 27, 2010 at 04:37 AM

Participants Include State Senate Candidate Lee Zeldin,
Suffolk County Legislator Tom Cilmi And Local Business Owners

New York, Oct. 25, 2010 - New York State Comptroller Candidate Harry J. Wilson (R-C-I) tonight held a forum for small businesses in Suffolk County. The forum focused on howthe MTA Payroll Tax and other harmful state legislation have been counterproductive to a successful economic recovery in this region, and on Mr. Wilson's plan to conduct of comprehensive forensic audit of the MTA as comptroller. 
 
Incumbents in the Legislature and in the Comptroller's office have either supported this local-job-killing tax or have made skin-deep attempts to 'audit' MTA expenditures, Mr. Wilson said. The MTA Tax imposes a percentage tax on the wages and salaries paid by private employers throughout New York City and seven surrounding downstate counties, including hospitals, libraries and nonprofit employers.
 
"Anyone with experience in finance, or common-sense, would oppose a tax on payrolls at a time when we need to encourage locally based business to hire more New Yorkers and add to their payrolls," said Taxpayers for Wilson Campaign Manager Chapin Fay. 
 
Continued Fay: "Comptroller DiNapoli, who has already been exposed as having absolutely no experience or knowledge of finance[1], waited nearly a year before making a  toothless attempt to audit the MTA's expenses and has never acknowledged the need to repeal the tax. Beyond his ineptitude as a fiscal watch-dog, this demonstrates a lack of common-sense, and a troubling picture of a politician who is completely beholden to unions and Albany's legislative insiders."
 
Harry Wilson's plan as Comptroller is to conduct an intensive, line-by-line forensic audit of the entire MTA, drawing on his extensive experience in restructuring financially distressed entities.  Mr. Wilson, a nationally-recognized restructuring expert, crossed party lines in 2009 to lead the restructuring of General Motors for the President's Auto Task Force.
 
Wilson has also beenvocal about the importance of political independence in order to best protect the fiscal interests of New York State taxpayers.  In doing so he has not made any political endorsements in this race, and has won the endorsement of many major New York State media outlets, including, but not limited to The New York Times;  The New York Daily News; The New York Post; Crain's New York Business; the Journal News; the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, and the Rochester City Newspaper.

 

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