Posted on 01/04/2007 12:35:02 PM PST by iceskater
Governor Timothy Kaine (D) wants to increase the sales tax on car to five percent, making it equal to the sales tax on most other goods. Overall, the Governor says his funding proposals would raise $800 million annually for transportation. Kaine also wants a $15 increase in the vehicle registration fee.
The proposals are very similar to what Kaine prosposed last year. The General Assembly did not pass a transportation plan during the 2006 session.
House Republicans are already shooting down the idea. Del. Leo Wardrup (R-Virginia Beach) says a two percent increase in the sales tax would be "a big wallup" for people.
RATS are tied to higher taxes like fish are to water.
ROTFLOL ... when will people ever learn, Dems think all our money belongs to them because THEY know better than us how it should be distributed?
I had the same reaction myself . . . I had no idea there were ANY states that assessed a lower sales tax on cars than on any other product.
And I totally agree with you there.
The problem is money is needed to deal with some of the road/transportation issues and there is no way all the surplus will be put toward it - not that it would be enough in the long run any how.
And as usual Republicans stupidly reject all taxes without thinking.
This is a good and fair tax. The more cars there are, the more roads you need. The fair way to pay for them is to have drivers that use them pay for them. And a good way to get drivers to pay is tax auto sales.
The bad way to tax for road building would be to use income taxes or general sales taxes. That would be stupid, but that's what some states do.
I'm not convinced that the road situation is as dire as Timmy boy likes to say.
For one thing, I am completely opposed to any more money going to VDOT without a complete overhaul of how they do business. The waste of taxpayer dollars by that agency makes me sick to my stomach.
Secondly, the voters in NoVa and Tidewater (they seem to be the ones who make the most noise about roads) had the opportunity to increase local sales taxes to specifically address their road concerns. Those referenda were overwhelmingly voted down. If the roads were such a problem, there was an opportunity to resolve it to some degree and the voters said NO.
Finally, there was a survey of truckers (I think) of which states had the best and worst roads. I posted a thread on that last year sometime. Another of the same survey came out recently. For the last two years, Virginia has some of the best roads in the country. Seems to me, people who drive for a living would have a pretty good idea of which road systems are good and which aren't. They said Virginia is one of the top 5 states.
So, I'm putting on my asbestos undies and say that I'm not sure that I believe there really is such a transportation crisis as some would have us believe.
I am still waiting for them to get rid of the car tax. Raising the tax to 5% from 3% is just another nail in Kaine's coffin. It is a 67% hike and a regressive tax to boot.
Same thing they were thinking last Nov.
Please don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen.
I completely and totally see what you are saying, and I do agree with you about the tax hand being out there all the time.
I was looking at it in comparison to the regressivity of a gasoline tax, which hurts the person with the lower income far more than the one with the higher income. Granted the same prinicpal applies, to a certain extent in regard to a car purchase, but not everyone buys a car every year, or a house for that matter. Therefore it is not a recurring tax on the same person.
As I said, I'm not saying I would support it, just that I would support it a lot quicker than an increasein the gasoline tax.
It just isn't people from VA who use the roads. If you want to raise taxes, raise them on gasoline. If you buy a $30K car, the increase in taxes from 3 to 5 percent amounts to $600. Plus, we have to pay an annual personal property tax on our cars. Are you a resident of VA?
The fuel tax proceeds have been stolen, so a new source is needed.??
Neither did I, in fact I just assumed it would have been higher. That of course is based upon buying cars in a state with no sales tax (Delaware) and you get hit with a "transfer tax" when you register it.
Actually, it is quite common.
You elect a Democrat you get tax hikes. It's that simple.
Of course they voted no - they want the rest of us to pay for it.
There is a similar debate over here on the Shore in regard to the Chincoteague Bridge, which VDOT has basically allowed to fall apart (so I do agree with you about VDOT). The locals complain, just like anywhere else, but the biggest complainers are not the local year-0round residents, but the folks from NoVA and elsewhere who have summer places there. The attitude is the locals should pay for it not them, but when confronted with the question that if they think we should pay for the bridge why do they think we should also pay for their roads needs in NoVA and Tidewater. The responses are generally hilarious.
So, I'm putting on my asbestos undies and say that I'm not sure that I believe there really is such a transportation crisis as some would have us believe.
I don't see a need for the asbestos undies, I'm inclined to agree with you.
I don't think too many on this forum elected him :)
Never said they did.
I was simply repeating a law of nature "Dihimmicrats raise taxes" it's what they do.
House Republicans are already shooting down the idea
I hope they succeed in stopping it.
Kind of like breathing is to the rest of us.
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