Well, our Governor, bless his heart, has come up with a new way to pay for roads! He's going to eliminate the gas tax and increase the sales tax! And put a fee on alternative fuel cars! Genius! At least he didn't propose another audit.
In all honesty, I don't think our Governor is particularly sharp but I understand the rational for switching to the sales tax. It's essentially a last-ditch attempt to get a revenue stream that will increase as the economy expands. This achieves, without legislative action, an expanding pot of money for our manifold road problems. Sales tax is a percentage, gas tax ain't. I'd prefer a revenue stream that is discrete, like the gas tax, so that it would be harder for the General Assembly (btw, I think "General" is a bit grand for the results they get. Maybe we should bust 'em down to "Lieutenant Assembly") to steal the money and spend it elsewhere. However, a tax that isn't a percentage requires adjustment over the years…and not adjustment down but the Lt. Assembly can't summon the fortitude to govern so they spend their time on social issues and dreaming up ways to just get it off their plates and have the localities take care of it.
The Governor has taken a fair bit of heat for not previously coming up with a solid solution to this problem – a stable and increasing revenue stream that addresses our transportation needs but it's really as much the fault of the Lt. Assembly as well. There's no will to pragmatically govern anymore. Instead we end up on the "Daily Show" for trans-vaginal ultrasounds. Certainly the Lt. Assembly got some other stuff done last year but, for all of that other effort, what was the headline?
As much fun as poking fun at the Assembly is, this is a really serious problem! Transportation is a linchpin of our economy – we need to be able to efficiently travel and move stuff around. Increasing gridlock on our roads only hurts the economy. My firm really doesn't do any business in Fairfax anymore – takes too long to get there and my customers won't pay for that much travel time. I don't blame 'em!
There's also this fun fact: state law requires that the maintenance of roads is paid for first and, last I checked, there won't be enough money to do anything other than maintenance in about 3 years so all new road building will stop. Think about that for awhile. There aren't any "good" taxes but the gas tax is as good as a tax will ever get: the people that use the roads pay most of the money to fix and build 'em. A straight "use tax" that doesn't require a traffic jam while you throw quarters in a basket. Please, can we just get a sensible motion to increase the gas tax a bit and be done with it? Paying more in taxes ain't my idea of fun either but we need more and better transportation options…..
January 13, 2013 at 8:50 am
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/bob-mcdonnells-virginia-road-tax-evasions/2013/01/12/8c84355a-5c6a-11e2-beee-6e38f5215402_story.html Good discussion at the Wash Post. The gimmicks and illusions of the governor and some members of the "lieutenant assembly" do seem like bad theatre at times. Who else would shut down rest stops one year, and grant public access to private bathrooms for people with Crohn's disease the next?
January 13, 2013 at 11:57 am
Coalition for Smarter Growth's take on the Governor's proposal: http://www.smartergrowth.net/news-parent/press-releases/no-tax-on-gasoline-a-terrible-policy-for-transportation-and-our-economic-competitiveness/
January 13, 2013 at 5:43 pm
I don't believe the economic impact study was ever done which would include the small Cities and Towns where a Sales Tax is part of the income, but not a chunck like gas tax. Further, when looking at multi-modal transporation and not just roads, how will those be funded? I am still shaking my head over our local Chamber President coming out in support of it.
January 14, 2013 at 9:05 am
http://hamptonroads.com/2013/01/failure-transportation-and-environment
"The proposal also discards a massive source of revenue for a supposed
benefit customers will never see. Does anyone actually expect gas
to become 17.5 cents a gallon cheaper if the tax disappears?"
January 14, 2013 at 9:23 am
This is as great an idea as selling the state ABC stores and letting private stores sell booze. It is simply wrong on many levels. As most of you know I am very consertative on fiscal issues. That being said there are still some issues that must remain the responsibility of government. I was deeply disappointed in this Governors plan to shift the responsibility of the Public Safety Officers Benefit Act to the localities and yet the state legislators allowed this to occur. These people protect the locals and the out of towners visiting any particular area. This is a State responsibility. Governor and Legislators, you don't balance the budget of the Commonwealth of Virginia on the backs of the widows and orphans of fallen public safety officers. You should be ashamed.
This idea (sales tax vs. gas tax) must be voted down and the PSOB needs to be reinstated.
January 16, 2013 at 10:20 am
http://hamptonroads.com/2013/01/gas-tax-comparisons-virginia-lost-money
I've noticed the same thing on my trips to and from Raleigh.
January 17, 2013 at 10:08 am
http://hamptonroads.com/2013/01/hampton-roads-lawmakers-mine-uranium-debate
FYI — A "primer" for another major issue before the GA this session
and it isn't a partisan battle – GOPers and Dems are on both sides.
Our delegate – Jackson Miller – is a supporter of lifting the moratorium while
most of the elected officials in the area that would be impacted want it to continue.
Senator Colgan, to my knowledge, has not taken sides yet.
January 17, 2013 at 10:24 pm
Look at who has given Delegate Miller lots of money. The uranium lobby. Makes you wonder……..
Pretty amazing that the uranium lobby tops the list.
How long until we put an end to this.
Jackson Miller has filed a new campaign finance report
From 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 through 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006
Overview Top Donors Donors by Industry
$5,500
Va Uranium (Chatham)
$4,467
Va Assn of Realtors (Glen Allen)
$4,000
Dominion (Richmond)
$4,000
Va Bankers Assn (Glen Allen)
$4,000
Va Hospital & Healthcare Assn (Henrico)
$3,000
Anthem (Richmond)
$3,000
Appalachian Power Co (Richmond)
January 18, 2013 at 10:45 am
http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/blog/2013/01/prince-william-chambers-muted.html?ana=e_du_pap&s=article_du&ed=2013-01-14 Prince William Chamber's "muted" support of the governor's plan. Sounds more like the Chamber supports the legislators' focus on transportation, not on this plan specifically. As a Chamber member, glad to know.
January 21, 2013 at 3:55 pm
While our delegate is perfectly free to accept campaign donations from whoever is handing them out, and similarly free to sponsor whatever legislation he chooses, this uranium mining is absolutely a bad thing for Virginia. There's almost nothing good about it, unless one owns the mine.
That, of course, is not the topic here, but I hope that Mr. Miller also will also be concentrating much effort towards finding real solutions to how we shall pay for the road and infrustructure needs in the commonwealth. I may not agree with some of his solutions, but I'd like to see lots of options discussed and proposed. We've drained the existing resources to nothing just to try and maintain the roads, we're at the end of that rope now, and it's time to pay the piper and come up with a plan. That's the hard work that needs to be done in Richmond right now, not legislation intended to enrich some property owners now at the guaranteed future expense of ALL the rest of us.