2 | NEW LIFE FOR NURSERY AUGUST 22, 2016 | VOL. 52, No. 34
YOUR ONLY SOURCE FOR REGIONAL BUSINESS NEWS
9 | DAYLIGHT SAVINGS westfaironline.com
Barges vs. vistas on the Hudson OPPONENTS WANT TO SINK COAST GUARD ANCHORAGE PLAN BY BILL HELTZEL bheltzel@westfairinc.com
T A pleasure craft passes a barge being pushed by a tugboat heading north on the Hudson River in Dutchess County. Photograph by Bob Rozycki.
he U.S. Coast Guard is considering new anchorages along a 109-mile stretch of the Hudson River where tugs and barges could wait out storms or wait for a high tide. That’s not going over well in river towns that have invested heavily in revitalizing their waterfronts or among environmentalists who fear more pollution. The Coast Guard has posted a proposed rule that would create 10 anchorages from Yonkers to Kingston. They would encompass more than 2,000 acres and accommodate 43 vessels up to
600 feet long. American Waterways Operators, Hudson River Pilots Association and the tug and barge committee of the Maritime Association of the Port of New York and New Jersey proposed the rule. The problem, as the maritime interests see it, is that there isn’t enough space to safely park tug boats, barges and other large vessels during emergencies and adverse conditions. Traffic has increased dramatically in the last few years, the Maritime Association said in a January letter to the Coast Guard, and is expected to continue » BARGES, page 6
From Olympic medalists, Uncle Sam wants his share FEDERAL AND STATE BILLS WOULD STAMP OUT TAX ON MEDALS AND CASH PRIZES
BY RYAN DEFFENBAUGH rdeffenbaugh@westfairinc.com
FOR OLYMPIC ATHLETES, A GOLD medal at this year’s summer games in Brazil could be the achievement of a lifetime. But
that first-place finish could cost them some serious cash in taxes once they arrive home. America’s Olympic medalists receive $25,000 for gold, $15,000 for second-place silver and $10,000 for third-place bronze
— money paid out by the U.S. Olympic Committee that is taxed by the Internal Revenue Service. Olympians in New York are also taxed by the state. In addition, the value of the gold and silver medals is also taxed. Legislation at both the state and federal levels would do away with this “victory tax,” as Sen. Charles Schumer describes it. New York’s senior Democratic senator has proposed a bill, co-sponsored by South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune, that would make all Olympic medals tax-exempt.
The Senate passed the bill in July and Schumer is calling on the House of Representatives to do the same. If the law is enacted, U.S. Olympians and Paralympians would be allowed to exempt the value of medals from their taxable income as well as the cash prizes awarded by the national Olympic committee. The bill would have a negligible effect on federal revenue and would not affect taxes on any potential endorsement or sponsorship income earned by Olympic athletes, Schumer said.
Schumer, who played high school varsity basketball in Brooklyn, in a press release said most countries do more to subsidize their athletes than the U.S., so the “very least the U.S. can do” is save athletes from a tax hit. At the state level, Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican from Staten Island, told reporters this week she will introduce legislation in 2017 to exempt Olympic prize money from state taxes as well. “These Olympians bring much pride to our state and » OLYMPIANS, page 6