Taxi riders and business owners are about to get slapped with the MTA’s bailout bill.
Starting Sunday morning at midnight, all cab fares will include a fat 50-cent surcharge, increasing the base rate from $2.50 to $3.
And Monday is the deadline for businesses within the agency’s 12 ridership counties — including all of New York City — to make their first quarterly payment of the new 0.34 percent payroll tax.
Those fees — along with a basket of motor-vehicle charges and subway and bus fare increases from earlier this year — were green-lighted by the government to help pay for a $2.3 billion MTA bailout package meant to stave off massive fare hikes.
But that doesn’t make it any easier for those asked to shell out the cash in a down economy.
“I think it’s horrible, terrible,” said Karina Portes, 27, from Washington Heights. “What’s happening to this city? It’s not even worth it taking a taxi any more. Fifty cents a ride could add up to a lot of money over the course of a year.”
On the receipt, the 50 cents will be itemized as a state tax. Drivers will have to post stickers and new rate cards so people know the increase is in effect, Taxi and Limousine Commission officials said.
It’s not just getting around that will become more costly.
Business owners with quarterly payrolls of at least $2,500 will be hit hard, too.
“This is the latest stopgap measure by the cowards in the state Legislature to try to cover their inability to manage the state budget responsibly,” said Eric Nelson, a lawyer in Midtown.
Others blame the MTA, which said it would have to raise fares by more than 20 percent if the agency didn’t get funds from the state and taxpayers.
“It stinks, because everything is going up in prices, but our salaries stay the same,” said Ann Marie Mendina, 34, a receptionist. “The MTA always has its hand out for money.”
Earlier this year, a 5 percent tax on car rentals went into effect, along with a $16 increase on driver’s license renewals and a $50 hike on vehicle registration fees.
And the MTA plans to implement another fare hike in 2011 as part of the deal, hammered out and approved by lawmakers and agency officials.
“It’s not cool at all. I don’t think it would raise as much money as what they are saying — it could have the opposite effect and people will ride less,” said Joana Santos, of Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
“The city is already very expensive, and we don’t need this. It’s unfair,” she railed.
Bob Schwartz who owns Eneslow Shoes on Park Avenue South, said he’s not looking forward to talking to his accountant next year.
“Obviously, this is just sticking it up our behinds,” he said.
Additional reporting by Edmund DeMarche