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City Council Grills FDNY Over Proposed Accident Tax
By
Garth Johnston
Published Jan 14, 2011
Modified Jan 14, 2011
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Jan 14, 2011
Modified Jan 14, 2011
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Even though they have no actual authority in the matter, the City Council today held a hearing today in Brooklyn to discuss the FDNY's idea to start charging a
tax
fee to drivers involved in accidents. And guess what? Nobody likes this plan!
Take it away, Councilman James Oddo:
Our military does not charge us a fee to keep us safe, the NYPD does not charge us a fee to investigate if our home has been broken into, and, until now, the FDNY has not attempted to charge a fee to help keep us safe. It is simply unconscionable that we are moving in this direction.
Or maybe you'd like a quote from Council Speaker Christine Quinn? She put out a statement that argues "charging for responding to the scene of an accident is a slippery slope, and I don't want to see us begin to go down that road out of a desperate desire to find sources of revenue."
Meanwhile the insurance companies, who the FDNY thinks will actually be paying these fees, hate the idea.
But again, this is a decision that is unfortunately the FDNY's alone to make. And they plan to make it in the coming weeks. If it passes, come July expect to spend an additional $365 to $490, depending on the severity of the crash, if you need assistance at the site of an accident. The FDNY is trying to close a $22 million budget deficit with these fees—and sadly we doubt sexy calendars are going to close that gap...
Tagged
Accident Tax
christine quinn
City Council
fdny
james oddo
Garth Johnston
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