[GreenYes] More on NYC

["Marjorie J. Clarke" <mclarke@shiva.hunter.cuny.edu>]

David Wood asked:

 >Does this mean NYC is pushing the NY state legislature to transmogrify the
 >deposit into a tax, or does the NY state law give the City some sort of home
 >rule power? More pointedly, are they "turning it into a tax" or are they
 >"trying to turn it into a tax"?

 From what I can gather, the Mayor was proposing there should be a "user 
fee" that he said would pay for a good recycling program (whatever he 
thinks that means).  Now, I know that except in rare instances, the city 
does not ever earmark taxes or fees collected to be returned to the 
programs that collected them.  So if the city were to collect a fee or tax 
on containers, this money would more than likely go to the general fund.  I 
don't know if NY state law allows this, since it is the NY state bottle 
law.  What I wonder is, why don't we double the deposit, put it on more 
items, and structure the law to claim the unredeemed deposits for the City.

Maggie Clarke, Ph.D.
Environmental Scientist and Educator
http://everest.hunter.cuny.edu/~mclarke/index.htm
New York City 
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