Posted on 07/03/2007 6:21:26 AM PDT by Gopher Broke
An unelected body, the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, (NVTA) is set to implement completely unprecedented and controversial taxing powers for road projects, two thirds of which will not be identified until late November or early December.
The NVTA wants more taxing power from the General Assembly in 2008, eminent domain authority to take homes, businesses, and land, and power to relocate utilities.
Proposed Taxes and Fee Increases:
- Tax on home sales will increase an additional 40 cents per $100 bringing the total state and local grantor/recordation taxes to 86.66 cents per $100, up from 46.66 cents per $100 ($3,467 instead of $1865 on a $400,000 home),
- New 5% car repair tax ($50 on a $1,000 repair bill). Collision repair costs will be hit especially hard as will insurance costs.
- Car rental tax will increase addition 2%, from 10% to 12 %
- Hotel tax will increase 2% on top of current 2%-5% tax
- Vehicle safety inspection fee will increase from $15 to $25
- New regional annual vehicle registration fee of $10 added to current registration fee.
- New, first time registration fee of 1% of sales price of newly registered or purchased car (new or used) ($200 for $20,000 vehicle)
The NVTA is authorized to negotiate unsolicited, non-competitive, sole-source contracts with their usual cost overruns.
The General Assembly increased road and rail funding from $6.2 billion a few years ago to $9.4 billion in the current budget. Last year we authorized local governments to construct inter-jurisdictional toll roads. This year we authorized the use of interstate tolls.
A formal legal opinion was previously requested from, but not issued, by the Attorney General on this law, HB3202. Since a lawsuit was filed, no opinion can now be issued. (Questions about constitutionality? Write delegatebobmarshall@hotmail.com)
If six appointed members from nine jurisdictions vote yes to taxes in July 12, all jurisdictions must impose and collect them. Please email, write, call, fax the NVTA representative below from your jurisdiction, and the others if possible. You can also attend and testify at the public hearing July 12, 7:00 pm @ Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School, 7130 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA. Thank you!
The Honorable Christopher Zimmerman Chairman, NVTA, Arlington Co. BOS, 2100 Clarendon Blvd. Ste. 300, Arlington, VA 22201, Fax: (703) 228-7430, czimmerman@arlingtonva.us
The Honorable Marty Nohe Vice-Chairman, NVTA, Prince William Co. BOS, 4360 Ridgewood Center Dr. Prince William, VA 22192, Fax: (703) 792-4610, mnohe@pwcgov.org
The Honorable Gerry Connolly Fairfax County BOS, NVTA, 12000 Government Center Pkwy, Ste. 530, Fairfax, VA 22035, Fax: (703) 324-3955, chairman@fairfaxcounty.gov
The Honorable William Euille City of Alexandria, NVTA, 301 King St., Alexandria, VA 22314, Fax: (703) 838-6433, alexvamayor@aol.com
The Honorable Robert Lederer City of Fairfax, NVTA, 10455 Armstrong St., Fairfax, VA 22030, Fax: (703) 385-7811, rlederer@fairfaxva.gov
The Honorable Hal Parrish City of Manassas, NVTA, 9027 Center St., Manassas, VA 20110, Fax: (703) 365-2060, hparrish@ci.manassas.va.us
The Honorable Bryan Polk City of Manassas Park, NVTA, City Hall, One Park Center Ct., Manassas Park, VA 20111, Fax: (703) 335-0053, bpolk@cityofmanassaspark.us
The Honorable David Snyder City of Falls Church, NVTA, Harry Wells Bld., 300 Park Ave, 3rd Floor, East Wing, Falls Church, VA 22046, Fax: (703) 248-5146, dsnyder@fallschurchva.gov
The Honorable Scott York Loudoun County BOS, NVTA, P.O. Box 7000, Leesburg, VA 20177, Fax: (703) 777-0421, syork@loudoun.gov
Not to worry, the Democrats in northern Virginia will simply adore these new taxes.
Wow. It’s hard to think of a way to kick poor and middle class people in the teeth harder than a tax on car repair. Of all the things to tax.
The meeting is at my kid’s school.
We now have $3,500 traffic tickets, too.
And on and on and on it goes. We have gone from citizens to cash cows.
Nice. Looks like they’re really trying to chase people out of the state.
This what the VA voters get for putting the socialists in charge of their government.
bet i know someone ready to give ‘em
an earfull at that meeting next week...
Coming soon to Merilin.
i dont get it why are we addressing these guys as honorable? are they elected or are they just businessmen to whom taxing has been delegated. our government is totally out of control. and these lame bureaucrats need to learn how to NOT SPEND.
“Looks like they’re really trying to chase people out of the state.”
Don’t discount that possibility. Places like CA and NY and FL, with so many people they don’t know what to do with them, simply raise taxes and impose regulations until their marginal residents move out, leaving them with a reduced population that they prefer. CA, for example, is a prime example of a State where they could care less whether a few hundred thousand people move out because of taxes or regulations. In their minds, it’s actually a good thing.
And I moved from Maryland to get away from liberal wealth redistribution. The whole country, except for maybe Wyoming, is going into the liberal/socialist crapper.
It does have the dubious virtue of squeezing a few bucks out of the illegal aliens ...
Don’t know that we have anything like NVTA here in the Free State (I am smiling as I type. What a paradox of a nickname, if ever there was one!).
Despite the taxing body (NVTA), these are considered to be tax increases,...are they not? Or is this whole shell game simply a way for the legislature to get around saying that very same thing and pretending that the populace are too stupid to figure it out?
Here in Maryland, fees and services have been the way to increase state revenue, this was done under the Ehrlich administration, and while I dislike any kind of tax increase, I suppose that I prefer this. The rainyday fund was bolstered under Ehrlich. It had like 1.3 billion in the kitty untill about a month after the Dems took power.
Governor Lilmarty is going to really give it to us next year, and while I’m not thrilled, I hope this will open the door to a new administration and hopefully some changes in the political landscape on this side of the Potomac.
I’ll pass your note along to my friends in the Old Dominion, maybe if there was some kind of groundswell, they could crash the phone line!
The thought of moving from the former United States of, what is now Amerika, has been crossing my mind. Oh, but, where to go?
!@#$%^&*!!!!!!!
That’s all I can type about how I feel- without getting banned.
Welcome the PR of Virginia..you asked for it and you got it.
Long commutes..high taxes..makes you long for the wide open spaces of MA.
Hey...c'mon now. There's a good number of FReepers here who still bear the battle scars for trying to keep these iceholes out of office.
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