US Senator Chuck Schumer Wednesday proposed tripling the tax credit schools receive for buying fuel-efficient buses. The current credit of about $6,000 on a bus costing $100,000 or more is no incentive, he said in his regular conference call with state reporters.
Schumer’s office said its study finds that school districts increased their fuel budgets by an average of 28%, but will still not have enough in their budgets to pay for the actual cost of diesel fuel. “It wasn’t nearly enough to cover,” Schumer said.
The Senator contends that Central New York schools have budgeted more than $10.6 million dollars for transportation this year, up from $8.3 million. But his office estimates that those same schools will spend nearly $13.9 million on fuel this year, a gap of more than $3 million that must be covered either by tax increases or cutbacks in jobs or services.
“Raising property taxes is not a good solution here,” he said.
The Schumer study finds that 31% of schools have cut back on purchases of supplies to cope with the fuel increases, while 29% have delayed repairs, 21% have either cut or modified positions, and, he said, a few have begun to discuss cutting back to a four-day school week.
He’s proposing a 200% increase in tax credits for buying hybrid buses and a program of grants to help schools become more energy efficient.
You can hear the entire Schumer conference call here:
Conference call, audio only, mp3 format, approx 8:00 min.
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