Hauppauge - Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy is set to pronounce the MTA payroll tax as the clarion call for "a complete overhaul of the failed business model of the MTA," an authority that incurs more expenditures than revenue and traps taxpayers in a never-ending debt cycle. Levy will announce his support for a private-sector lawsuit to end the MTA payroll tax on all parties and will cite compelling legal opinions in calling for special legislation to obtain an outside review of the MTA's wasteful practices.

The county executive will be joined by William Schoolman, president of Classic Coach Companies and lead plaintiff in a taxpayer lawsuit to repeal the MTA payroll tax, in denouncing the MTA payroll tax on constitutional grounds and indicting the authority business model as "a total failure for taxpayers."

Levy will announce his support for the Schoolman lawsuit as the best way to repeal the onerous MTA payroll tax for all affected parties, not just local governments, because it is the only suit brought by a private business. In support of Schoolman's taxpayer suit, Levy has directed the county attorney to file briefs supporting Schoolman.

"There is a need to reign in the MTA's absurd $13.5 billion to $5.9 billion expense-to-revenue ratio," said Levy. "The MTA is the official mascot of failed authorities - and now, some legislators are seeking to create Long Island's very own MTA-boondoggle in the form of a Public Benefit Corporation for the J.J.F. Skilled Nursing Facility, rather than re-evaluating the very legitimacy of the authority concept."

Levy emphasized that while the MTA is fixated on seeking new revenues, its problem result from inflated expenditures. "It cannot be clearer that continued reliance on the authority model is a disaster for taxpayers," Levy concluded.