Payroll Tax Idea Resurfaces In Atlanta

With Mayor Shirley Franklin warning of even more service cuts to help make up a $50-60 million budget shortfall, the idea of taxing Atlanta's commuters has reared its head again.

Councilman C.T. Martin confirmed for 11Alive News he wants to resurrect his proposal of a payroll tax on commuters who come into the City of Atlanta to work, but who live elsewhere.

Martin says it's not fair for the city's 489,000 residents to pay for the city's infrastructure and services while commuters who outnumber them essentially benefit from those same services without paying.

Martin estimates a commuter payroll tax would bring in about $38 million a year to the city's coffers and would mean an average of about $1,000 for each commuter.

Several other U.S. cities already have similar payroll taxes, including New York, Birmingham, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit to name a few.

But Martin still faces an uphill battle. Even if he gets Atlanta's City Council and Mayor Franklin to go along, the tax would have to be approved by Georgia's Republican controlled State Legislature, which has balked at the idea in the past.

http://www.11alive.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=123605&catid=3

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Payroll Tax Idea Resurfaces In Atlanta