By Danny Hakim and Jeremy W. Peters

ALBANY — Gov. David A. Paterson will propose a $4 billion package of taxes and fees on a range of items, from sugary soft drinks made by Coca-Cola and Pepsi to luxury items like furs and boats, when he unveils his plan to close a deficit that has ballooned to $15 billion, people with knowledge of the plan said on Sunday.

Higher taxes will also be imposed on health insurers and a sales tax exemption on clothing and footwear under $115 will be eliminated, though the administration will propose a two-week holiday for goods under $500, under the budget the governor will introduce on Tuesday.

A number of fees will be increased, with users of the Department of Motor Vehicles and the state parks bearing much of the burden, people with knowledge of the plan said. Tuition at the State University of New York and the City University of New York will also be increased.

The governor’s executive budget, which is subject to approval by the Legislature, is sure to touch off months of protests from an array of interest groups, as well as battles with lawmakers.

One element that Mr. Paterson left out of his budget was any broad-based tax increase affecting people in higher income brackets, a measure that some in Albany believed would be part of the plan. But ever since taking over as the state’s chief executive in March, Mr. Paterson has steadfastly opposed raising income taxes as a way to prop up the state’s worsening finances.

Mr. Paterson said his plan is meant to fill a budget gap totaling $15 billion for the rest of the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, and the following fiscal year. State law requires that the budget be balanced.

Mr. Paterson’s plan relies most heavily on cuts — roughly $9 billion, with the largest amounts aimed at state aid to education and Medicaid. The governor will also propose rollbacks of benefits for state workers, a measure that will almost certainly lead to a standoff with powerful public-employee unions.

The administration is also expected to propose eliminating the controversial Empire Zone program, which offers tax incentives for business development across the state, but has often been criticized for failing to deliver promised job growth.

“It is just prohibitive and it’s painful to have to make some of these decisions,” Mr. Paterson said at an appearance on Sunday night in Manhattan. “I’ve been forced to veto legislation that I’ve sponsored.”

He called tuition increases at state schools “a very hard step to take.”

“We’re going to try to remediate that with some other services to the colleges and universities, but when a person whose whole career has basically been for the advocacy of higher education, such as myself, has to take that kind of step, it gives you an idea of what kind of a number $15 billion is.”

Trying to put the best face on what will be a bleak budget year, the Paterson administration gave a limited budget briefing on Sunday in which administration officials discussed a small number of social initiatives whose financing would be increased. Several of the initiatives were aimed at helping the poor through what is certain to be a trying economic future. “The nation and the state are in midst of the greatest economic crisis we have endured since the Great Depression, and there are families struggling to provide basic needs for their loved ones,” the governor said in a statement on Sunday.

The most significant move was a proposed increase to welfare grants for the first time in 18 years, though more money would not be made available until the beginning of 2010. The administration plans to seek a 30 percent increase over three years, with the eventual cost of the increase exceeding $100 million a year.

The basic welfare grant would eventually rise to $387 a month from $291 for a family of three, or $3,492 per year, where it has remained since 1990.

That the administration was pushing the measure foretold how little money was available this year; the increased welfare grants will have little impact on the budget for the coming fiscal year, which ends in March 2010.

The administration also said it would expand a state-financed health insurance program, Family Health Plus, to cover 19- and 20-year-olds who no longer live with their parents. Enrolling in such programs would also be made easier by, among other things, ending requirements for face-to-face interviews.

Those who provided details about Mr. Paterson’s plan did so on condition of anonymity because the plan has yet to be made public. In describing the fees on nondiet soft drinks, those familiar with Mr. Paterson’s plan called them an “obesity tax.”

Expecting a protracted battle with lawmakers and interest groups, the governor is introducing his budget more than a month earlier than is traditional. Assembly leaders were expected to push for broader-based tax increases to offset cuts to social programs, and spent much of last year advocating tax increases for the richest New Yorkers.

Higher taxes will also be imposed on health insurers and a sales tax exemption on clothing and footwear under $115 will be eliminated, though the administration will propose a two-week holiday for goods under $500, under the budget the governor will introduce on Tuesday.

A number of fees will be increased, with users of the Department of Motor Vehicles and the state parks bearing much of the burden, people with knowledge of the plan said. Tuition at the State University of New York and the City University of New York will also be increased.

The governor’s executive budget, which is subject to approval by the Legislature, is sure to touch off months of protests from an array of interest groups, as well as battles with lawmakers.

One element that Mr. Paterson left out of his budget was any broad-based tax increase affecting people in higher income brackets, a measure that some in Albany believed would be part of the plan. But ever since taking over as the state’s chief executive in March, Mr. Paterson has steadfastly opposed raising income taxes as a way to prop up the state’s worsening finances.

Mr. Paterson said his plan is meant to fill a budget gap totaling $15 billion for the rest of the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, and the following fiscal year. State law requires that the budget be balanced.

Mr. Paterson’s plan relies most heavily on cuts — roughly $9 billion, with the largest amounts aimed at state aid to education and Medicaid. The governor will also propose rollbacks of benefits for state workers, a measure that will almost certainly lead to a standoff with powerful public-employee unions.

The administration is also expected to propose eliminating the controversial Empire Zone program, which offers tax incentives for business development across the state, but has often been criticized for failing to deliver promised job growth.

“It is just prohibitive and it’s painful to have to make some of these decisions,” Mr. Paterson said at an appearance on Sunday night in Manhattan. “I’ve been forced to veto legislation that I’ve sponsored.”

He called tuition increases at state schools “a very hard step to take.”

“We’re going to try to remediate that with some other services to the colleges and universities, but when a person whose whole career has basically been for the advocacy of higher education, such as myself, has to take that kind of step, it gives you an idea of what kind of a number $15 billion is.”

Trying to put the best face on what will be a bleak budget year, the Paterson administration gave a limited budget briefing on Sunday in which administration officials discussed a small number of social initiatives whose financing would be increased. Several of the initiatives were aimed at helping the poor through what is certain to be a trying economic future. “The nation and the state are in midst of the greatest economic crisis we have endured since the Great Depression, and there are families struggling to provide basic needs for their loved ones,” the governor said in a statement on Sunday.

The most significant move was a proposed increase to welfare grants for the first time in 18 years, though more money would not be made available until the beginning of 2010. The administration plans to seek a 30 percent increase over three years, with the eventual cost of the increase exceeding $100 million a year.

The basic welfare grant would eventually rise to $387 a month from $291 for a family of three, or $3,492 per year, where it has remained since 1990.

That the administration was pushing the measure foretold how little money was available this year; the increased welfare grants will have little impact on the budget for the coming fiscal year, which ends in March 2010.

The administration also said it would expand a state-financed health insurance program, Family Health Plus, to cover 19- and 20-year-olds who no longer live with their parents. Enrolling in such programs would also be made easier by, among other things, ending requirements for face-to-face interviews.

Those who provided details about Mr. Paterson’s plan did so on condition of anonymity because the plan has yet to be made public. In describing the fees on nondiet soft drinks, those familiar with Mr. Paterson’s plan called them an “obesity tax.”

Expecting a protracted battle with lawmakers and interest groups, the governor is introducing his budget more than a month earlier than is traditional. Assembly leaders were expected to push for broader-based tax increases to offset cuts to social programs, and spent much of last year advocating tax increases for the richest New Yorkers.

One of the biggest obstacles Mr. Paterson will have to overcome is a Senate narrowly divided between Democrats and Republicans that has yet to settle on a leader for next year, amid continued wrangling among Democrats.
Hospitals, nursing homes and other health care centers, already pinched by the first round of budget cuts earlier this year, are bracing for a fight.

“I expect it to be an unmitigated disaster for health care institutions in New York,” Kenneth E. Raske, president of the Greater New York Hospital Association, said in an interview on Friday. “I expect we will see a significant downsizing of the health care delivery system, and it’s at a time when people can least afford the cutbacks.”

Layoffs among health care workers are seen as likely. A recent survey by the Health Care Association of New York State found that 18 percent of hospitals are considering letting employees go to cope with their financial problems, 30 percent are weighing service cuts and 68 percent are contemplating scaling back improvement projects.

“Our hospital system is already short nurses, lab technicians and physicians,” said Dan Sisto, president of the health care association, a hospital advocacy group. “So it’s very difficult to cut back on a labor force that is already complaining about being shorthanded.”

Education advocates offered a similarly bleak view.

“We understand there will be cuts,” Randi Weingarten, president of the United Federation of Teachers, said on Friday. “The real question is, will there be cuts, not just cuts against growth, but real cuts that will turn back the clock?”

Billy Easton, executive director of the Alliance for Quality Education, an advocacy group, agreed. “School districts now have to plan that they’re not going to get the money that’s due to them.”

Education advocates are particularly concerned that the depth of the expected cuts will risk core educational programs and not just extracurricular activities, which are often the first to be slashed when budgets tighten.

“It takes a lot to help make sure there’s programs for kids,” Ms. Weingarten said, “but it takes very little to have this whole thing collapse.”