The pandemic has been a boon to people who enjoy working from home or appreciate less traffic on the roads during their commute.
But these upsides also translate into a significant decrease in revenue for the state, which collects hundreds of millions of dollars annually from taxes on gasoline and highway usage. For the first two months of the fiscal year, revenue from the state’s taxes on motor fuel, highway use and petroleum were about $130 million below last year’s receipts, according to the latest cash report from the state comptroller’s office.
This drop in funding could have a long-term effect on the state’s infrastructure, according to Fred Hiffa, a top transportation official in the Pataki administration, who is now part of the Rebuild New York Now coalition, which advocates for infrastructure investment.
Read this story from WCNY's The Capitol Pressroom: http://www.wcny.org/state-loses-millions-of-dollars-in-revenue-due-to-less-driving/
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