Business Owners Get Tax Break From MTA

Downtown business owners whose subway tax was scheduled to jump nine cents per square foot next year will get a tax break, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman said Monday.

Owners who now pay about 17 cents a square foot will pay 21 cents instead of the planned 26-cent rate, acting MTA Treasurer Joya De Foor said.

Downtown merchants plan to apply the difference toward a new Business Improvement District fund, which will pay for increased public safety, street lighting and maintenance, he said.

“We have come up with an innovative way to reduce the assessments,” De Foor said. “Business owners consider the [improvement district] necessary to revitalize downtown and have been willing to take on the additional burden of paying for the improvements.”