NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — The so-called pied-à-terre tax is the one tax lawmakers in Albany, desperate to fund the MTA, can agree on.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo estimates the tax would bring in $9 billion.

Cuomo has admitted that passage of legalized marijuana may not happen in time for the budget.

Cuomo was adamant that, with other taxes foundering in the legislature, the tax was needed, “You can’t do a budget without a funding stream for the MTA. So if you don’t have marijuana, you need something else.”

Under the Senate’s bill, second homes worth $5 million or more would be taxed.

The recent purchase of a $238 million Central Park South apartment by hedge fund billionaire Kenneth Griffin has been used as an example of why such a measure is needed.

If a buyer of a second or investment property lives out of state, they’re not subject to state or city income or sales tax.

The $9 billion, however, would only be a fraction of the $40 billion the MTA says it needs.

A congestion tax, supported by Cuomo, is being held up with some lawmakers loathe to have outer borough or suburban drivers pick up the tab.