Atlas PUKED!!!
Posted on 11/07/2007 8:00:05 PM PST by SmithL
Only this year, transportation officials say, the idea could be more palatable as but one arrow in a quiver aimed at reducing the Bay Area's contribution to global warming.
Under legislation that went into effect in 1997, the MTC has the authority to put a gasoline "tax" before voters in the Bay Area's nine counties. But the two-thirds requirement for taxes, the proposed legislative program says, is "a hurdle that most polling data have consistently shown to be out of reach."
Recent polls conducted by the MTC staff have shown that more than half of area residents support the 10-cents-a-gallon idea if it would help fight global warming and improve conditions on local roads and freeways.
Californians now pay about 55 cents per gallon in taxes, most of that in state and federal excise taxes, levied per gallon, followed by state and local sales taxes, levied as a percentage of purchase price.
Both MTC and the Association of Bay Area Governments last week challenged area leaders to support an aggressive system to curb greenhouse gas emissions that included congestion fees and parking surcharges for driving in urban areas during peak hours to raise money and prod commuters toward public transit. The plan also calls for opening car pool lanes to solo drivers for a variable fee to ease congestion and raise money for more car pool lanes and better transit service.
By far the most controversial proposal was a "carbon tax" levied on gasoline to help roadways' cash-starved maintenance programs and cut back on the number of miles traveled by motorists.
"When you look at things like the federal gas tax and state tax, they're so far behind in terms of keep up with the cost, in terms of funding the kinds of improvements we need for our road network," said Orinda Mayor Amy Worth, who represents Contra Costa County municipalities on the commission.
That means it's important for the MTC to look for new funding as well as to protect existing sources of transportation funding, such as the fuel tax "spillover," normally earmarked for transit that was tapped by the governor and state Legislature this year for other programs.
The biggest hurdle to that idea may be as simple as its name. Under California's tax-control laws, any such tax would require approval of two-thirds of the electorate.
The MTC staff is recommending, in a draft legislative program to be presented to the panel's Legislative Committee on Friday, that commissioners seek state legislation "to amend our existing authority to levy a road user fee" on gasoline, requiring only a simple majority at the ballot box.
The difference is not simply semantic, the program says: "As a fee proposal, eligible expenditures would have to provide a strong nexus between the fee paid and the expenditures for which the revenues are used."
That means the money must be earmarked as outlined in the legislation, such as for repairing roadways or buying new transit vehicles.
Assemblyman Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, a former MTC member, noted that neither he nor any other legislator agreed to carry the legislation earlier this year.
"I don't want to be party to adding to the burden of working families in the Bay Area who are already in an economically tight situation," DeSaulnier said, adding that he favored other strategies, such as curbing development, to cut vehicle use.
string the propopents of this deceit up in a tree by their thumbs, better yet, make them watch whorealdo re-runs 24 hours a day for a month
proponents
Obviously, they're dems, quite willing and eager to lie in order to put something over on us, convinced we're so damn dumb we'll believe them.
Global warming is the liberals favorite tax scheme and fees is the preferred word to throw the rubes off.
Atlas PUKED!!!
Just curious here. Do the buses, etc. of this MTC have to pay federal, state, and local taxes...errr....fees on the fuel they burn?
UNGOOD, or is it Double+Ungood??? they must think everybody in mexifornia is terminally brain damaged and can't tell a tax from a fee cause of what it's called.
Of course, proceeds the new "fees" and "taxes" will be diverted away from such activities as maintaining roads.
Moderator: I can’t type in this field without turning my webtv off and back on. This will work for awhile, then the problem repeats.Is it something wrong with my equipment or a hacker etc. I can still type the other 2 blocks on this page when this occurs.
“The plan also calls for opening car pool lanes to solo drivers for a variable fee to ease congestion and raise money for more car pool lanes and better transit service.”
So, if you are rich, you can pollute...
What about the poor folks the CA rats are always claiming to help?
Must have been set off by “Diamond Lane Envy”....:^)
Global warming hits particularly hard at the poor, she [Hillary Clinton] said. One in four low-income families have already missed a mortgage or rent payment because of rising energy costs," Clinton said.
Business Week, "Clinton sees opportunity in climate woes," Nov. 5, 2007
Yep, sticking us all with a carbon tax is really going to help the poor. These idiot Dems chronically talk out of both sides of their mouths and nobody holds them to account.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Good ideas are honest. Bad ideas require disguise.
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