The Bridge Tolls Advocacy Project released a report this week that examines who will pay if East River bridges are tolled. Findings from the report indicate that less than 2% of people over 18 would pay more than $50 a year in East River tolls.

The few who will pay dearly for the tolls would be those drivers who commute over the bridges daily, who would pay tolls reaching $1,500 a year.

According to the study, NYC residents would pay 78% of the toll revenue, Long Islanders 18% of the total, and New Jerseyans 4% of the total. Assuming an adjusted average toll of $3.72, New Jersey and Long Island drivers would pay about $160 million, more than a third of the revenue NYC lost with the repeal of the commuter tax in 1999.

While the report does indicate that Brooklyn residents would pay the highest percentages of the tolls, combined with other budget balancing measures, such as the new hefty real estate tax in Manhattan, the tolls would actually more evenly distribute the city’s budget woes amongst the boroughs.

The report was not the only new development this week in the East River toll battle. A Point-Counterpoint in the Daily News on Thursday pitted Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz against economist Charles Komanoff, head of the Bridge Tolls Advocacy Project and author of the above mentioned report.

Markowitz has continually argued that the tolls would disproportionately affect Brooklyn’s "working stiffs" and in the News, called for a modest tax increase on "high-income households." But don’t user fees, E. River tolls, accomplish just that? Only 2% of BK and Queens residents would pay more than $50 a year on tolls. This is most likely the same 2% that can afford to pay for parking and all the other expenses associated with driving a car daily in NYC. 

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