POUGHKEEPSIE – State Senator Terry Gipson (D-Rhinebeck) says he was “disturbed” to hear of the results of a state comptroller report that said the MTA held over $90 million in funds and bank accounts without being designated for any specific use.

Gipson said the payroll tax enacted in 2009 was “a mistake, and the fact that much of the money raised by that level has gone unused validates my belief.”

Orange County Chamber of Commerce President John D’Ambrosio, who has also been pushing for total repeal of the payroll tax, found the audit findings interesting.

“I thought they were broke; $90 million is a lot of money. On the other hand, in the life of the MTA, while that is a lot of money to us, I’m not sure that’s a lot of money to the MTA, but I am glad the comptroller found it because now it can be fixed, and now, just maybe, the MTA tax will be a thing of the past forever,” D’Ambrosio said.

Gipson said funding the MTA “on the backs of small business and non-profits is misguided.”