NY state Sen. Andrew Gounardes recently introduced a bill that seeks to add an additional 25 cents in tax per package delivery. It is estimated that with this extra fee, the city will be able to raise $226 million in revenue annually. Consequently, the revenue can be bonded to finance $1 billion worth of infrastructure projects across the city per year.
Streetsblog NYC reported:
Gounardes’s bill is the latest in a burgeoning effort to regulate the expanding last-mile delivery industry in New York, which relies on warehouses in Sunset Park, Red Hook, the South Bronx and parts of Queens.
Other regulatory proposals include one to regulate where the warehouses are placed and another regulate the emissions associated with them. Another bill, from Assembly Member Robert Carroll (D-Windsor Terrace), would slap a $3 tax on every online retail order, and would fund the MTA as opposed to the city.
“The way we’re thinking about it is, who’s paying for and dealing with all these issues right now?” said Gounardes. “It’s New York City … so this is a New York City-only bill. It just seemed like a natural fit for New York City to control this fund so it can make these improvements.”
The explosion of online delivery will balloon the number of trucks on city streets if officials don’t take action, according to city forecasts — from 120,000 daily trucks today to almost 200,000 per day by 2045.
“Our addiction to delivery on demand is clogging our streets, is weakening our roadway infrastructure, is polluting our neighborhoods, and we have to deal with those costs and consequences,” he told Streetsblog.
