ALBANY, N.Y. -- A proposed tax on bus ticket sales and the potential lifting of a cap on diesel fuel taxes in New York has broad implications for all other states, say New York bus executives.

Gov. David Paterson rolled out an executive budget for the fiscal year that begins April 1, which would impose a wide range of exotic new levies, including the ticket sales tax.

Although the ticket levy wouldnt go into effect until June 1, it would be retroactive for tickets sold but not yet used.

One operator estimates it would have to pay $250,000 in additional taxes for advance tickets already sold and to be used later this year, reports John Silvanie, president of the Bus Association of New York State and head of White Plains Bus Co.

The state Department of Taxation and Finance would be responsible for enforcing the levy, although bus operators would have to collect the tax and maintain the bookkeeping.

The state estimates the ticket tax would bring in $14 million in new revenue.

The lifting of the cap on fuel excise taxes is expected to bring in $90 million in new revenue, based on an average the state has formulated.

New York is running a $15 billion budget deficit.

Silvanie and BANY counsel Jerry Kremer see the developments in New York as a potential national time bomb.

"This is a national problem," asserts Silvanie.

States are facing budgetary shortfalls throughout the country, and when a large state, like New York, makes such budgetary decisions, smaller states often follow suit, he notes.

"As New York goes, so go a lot of other states," adds Kremer.

"What they should be doing is getting people on buses, not discouraging them from getting on buses," says Silvanie. "All of these taxes are regressive. They are the opposite of what is good policy. Well have to raise what we charge to customers, and when it becomes so expensive that people think they can do it themselves, drive themselves, its going to increase congestion."

Adds Kremer: "The state refuses to recognize that our bus operators are the environments best friend, not only because we reduce the amount of automobile traffic but because we also make major investments in fuel-saving vehicles.

"We have launched an active campaign using e-mails, personal contacts and are holding additional emergency member meetings. We will also be holding dinner meetings with our board in early February. We take these assaults on our industry very seriously and are prepared to do battle in 2009 and 2010," Kremer says.

"What gets lost in this discussion is that for every 50-passenger bus, 12-14 cars are taken off the road. Making the burden greater on our industry is just crazy," Kremer adds.

Bus companies operating in New York have been seeing operating costs rise in recent months as a result of other state actions, including two increases of 15-20 percent each in tolls charged on state thruways and the possibility of more to come.

"Theyre scratching for money," says Kremer of some of the new taxes included in Patersons budget proposal.

"Theres a 14 percent tax increase on sweetened beverages, sodas, not diet. Theres a lot of exotic stuff in there."

But, he adds, "thats what a smart budget staff does. I ran a fiscal committee, so I know. People stay up nights looking for ways to tax." Kremer was a state assembly member for 23 years, and its ways and means committee chair for 12 years.

"Were going to do an across-the-state mobilization of members. We have a lot of (companies), we have a lot of employees, we have a lot of customers," says Kremer.