A unanimous Appellate Division, Second Department, panel on Wednesday ruled that a tax on the payroll of employers within the Metropolitan Transportation Authority region is constitutional, reversing a lower court judge. The panel held in Mangano v. Silver, 14444/10, that the tax, enacted by the state Legislature in 2009 to provide funding for the MTA, does not require home rule messages from the local government affected by the tax because funding for the MTA affects the whole state.
Nassau County filed a lawsuit in 2010 to challenge the tax, which charges employers in the metro region 34 cents for every $100 of payroll. Twenty-one municipalities joined in the suit. Nassau Supreme Court Justice R. Bruce Cozzens Jr. (See Profile) ruled that the tax was unconstitutional last year (NYLJ, Aug. 23, 2012).
