HAUPPAUGE – Suffolk County Executive Steven Levy will be in Albany on Monday, May 18, to ask state legislators for legislation allocating $26 million of the recently imposed payroll tax towards an MTA takeover of the Suffolk bus system.

Last week, the State Legislature passed an MTA bailout plan, which included a payroll tax imposed upon local and county governments as well as all the businesses within the counties covered by the MTA. The cost to Suffolk County government alone is $3.3 million and the payroll tax will have an impact on businesses county-wide by millions more.

Levy called the deal “the worst of both worlds” for Suffolk residents.

“We all have to pay higher taxes and yet we get practically no benefit out of the package,” he said. “While New York City’s transit system will be enhanced significantly, Suffolk County’s bus system gets nothing.”

Levy has been lobbying the State Legislature to change its transit funding system, which he said discriminates against Suffolk. While Suffolk has three times the geography of Nassau County and Westchester, Suffolk receives a subsidy of only $22.5 million compared to the $47.9 million for Westchester and $57.7 million for Nassau County.

“To make matters worse, Suffolk must subsidize its system to the tune of $26 million from local taxpayers while Nassau must chip in only $10 million from its budget,” Levy said. “Part of the reason why we are under-funded is because Suffolk County is not included in the Long Island Bus System while Nassau and Westchester counties are so included.”