MINEOLA, N.Y. (WCBS 880) — With the price of gas soaring, Nassau County's Democratic legislators are proposing temporarily suspending the county's sales tax on gas.
Legislator Josh Lafazan said Wednesday that temporarily suspending the county's gasoline sales tax, which is 4.25%, would help residents save money at the pump so they can continue to drive to work.
"Gas prices will continue to rise and we don't know if there's an end in sight and this is something that we can do today that is a concrete action that'll help make a difference in somebody's life," Lafazan said.
Lafazan, who is running for Congress, said the county can make up for the losses by using stimulus money.
"We have major money coming in federal stimulus money. It's supposed to be used to relieve the tax payers," he said. "Even though the county is going to take a loss with the lack of sales tax revenue, we have ways to make it up, and more importantly even though the county will be losing tax dollars, those are the hard-earned dollars of the men and women in this county so anything we can do to keep those dollars in their pockets makes it easier for them to live here."
Lafazan said if there is something the goverment can do on a local level, that is action that should be taken.
"Government gets so much wrong, and it's why people are so disillusioned with governement," Lafazan said. "So if government can actually step up and do something, then it's something government should do."
Lafazan said people spent too long inside their homes because of COVID and they should not have to do that again because of gas prices.
"There are real residents in this county right now who will make a decision of whether or not to drive based on the cost of gas," Lafazan said. "We want people to get out of their houses, we want them to patronize our restaurants, we want them to shop in our downtowns, but the high price of gas is making it cost prohibitive."
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, in a statement, said he hopes the minority legislators lobby colleagues in Washington to reopen the Keystone Pipeline to lower energy costs.
“The increase in energy prices is directly attributable to federal and state policies that have decreased domestic production and relied on foreign energy sources which have increased energy costs and made us vulnerable to foreign powers," Blakeman said. "I would hope that those minority legislators lobby their colleagues in Albany and Washington to reopen the Keystone XL pipeline and take other measures which would lower energy costs and make America More Secure.”
Related
Related
