Bob Marshall is exactly right. Nobody gave the NVTA the authority to levy taxes disguised as surcharges. This deserves to be shot down with extreme prejudice.
TC
Aside from NVTA having no taxation authority, I want to know exactly what they intend to do with that “$300 million a year”.
Mark Warner had his minions screaming bloody murder about traffic and roads to justify a tax hike (we’d be rid of the damned car tax by now), and got his $1 billion.
But I don’t see any new roads or traffic changes in NOVA. I DO see this new NVTA, and billboards for a tunnel for the Tysons Metro (more taxes). But not much else.
Absolutely.
What have they done with all the taxes already designated for transportation ? The taxes they show are all percentage basis taxes, which means they already got tax revenue increases approximately proportionate to inflation on the items taxed.
If some other state or county program has taken the revenue for non-infrastructure programs, and people OK this grab for additional infrastructure taxes, the effect is overall growth in taxes.
If they get away with this, it just confirms their belief that there is no real limit to how much government can spend.