It seems that the General Assembly can’t agree on how to fund our transportation needs. Gas tax? No. Sales tax? No. Regional plans? No. So I’ve been thinking about what we could do to move the pile forward, as it were.
There are those who think transportation can be funded by existing revenues, mostly by finding expenses to cut. So, how about we ditch the car tax reimbursement to the localities?
Last time I looked, former governor Jim Gilmore’s “no car tax” plan was costing the Commonwealth $950 million. By killing this plan, either outright or over a period of a few years, that money could be used to fund transportation. Yes, this amounts to a tax increase, but only on people who own cars. Think of it as a user fee 😉
Then there are those who believe we need a dedicated revenue source. OK, let’s find one 😉 How about an increase in the income tax rate?
Virginia’s top tax bracket is 5.75%, a relatively low rate when compared to other states. In fact, when looking at the total tax burden, Virginia ranks 33rd, according to this analysis. Based on my “back of the napkin” calculation, a 1/2% increase in the top tax bracket would result in additional revenues of about $750 million, while a 3/4% increase would result in about $1.1 billion. (I used the data in table 1.2 in the 2007 report (pdf), which is 2005 data.)
So there you have it. A couple of ways to pay for transportation. (Of course, it goes without saying that this money needs to be locked up in order to keep it from being used for other stuff.) Thoughts?
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Little David: If you really want to see a switch to alternative energy, why waste years and billions of dollars exploiting ANWR? Cut to the chase, and invest billions in creating the technology/infrastructure to not only wean America from the tit of FOREIGN oil, but ALL oil. Exxon might not like it, their Republican fellow travelers might not like it, but fonk ’em.
Why not a fuel tax for maintenance and an icome tax increase for general transportation (which does, in fact, include more than just roads), which will provide a steady, reliable, bondable stream of funds, enabling the Commonwealth to get federal funds and also sell bonds for major projects. The fuel tax for maintenance is use-related. The income tax is broad-based and the least regressive of all taxes, The fact is, even people without vehicles who do not “use” the roads in fact benefit from use of roads inasmuch as nearly everything they buy (food, clothing, and so on) at some point reached them via truck at least part of the way, so they should share the cost.
As for the Know Nothing No-Party, is there any way the state can deny their districts any state funds for anything? I mean, they seem opposed to paying for government, so give them no government (funds).