Kaine: Raise sales tax, grantor’s tax, car taxes
By Brian Kirwin | Monday, May 12th, 2008 | Catch-AllLeave it to a liberal to push a house tax in the middle of a housing crisis and push regional sales taxes that lost two referendums by a 2 to 1 margin. But that’s Gov. Tim Kaine’s plan. And guess what? The “house tax” won’t even go for roads.
According to the Daily Press, the “house tax” should go to the Transportation no-Trust fund and go mostly to mass transit. Buy a house=pay for buses.
A state tax increase for buses!
Kaine also raises car titling taxes and registration fees, and sends all that to the Transportation no-trust fund, and somehow that doesn’t go to mass transit, but to road maintenance.
At least until they raid it, since they still don’t Constitutionally protect the Transportation no-Trust fund, and they still treat it like they used to treat the lottery fund.
The regional sales taxes idea I don’t have as much of a problem with, if it funded something substantially different than was proposed in 2002. But the public has spoken pretty loudly that a 4.5 billion funding-sucker of a Port crossing should be a state-funded economic development project, and not completely on Hampton Roads’ back. Kaine, in his interview with me, said he isn’t going to pick projects. He’ll just pick taxes.
You can’t just take the same funding for the same projects from the failed referendums and ram them through anyway. Can you?
So, Tim Kaine who ran on “no tax increases until we protect the no-Trust fund” and who ran against “regional tax plans” proposes both, with the absolutely laughable thought that we should raise the “house tax” during a housing crisis to pay for buses.
Right Wing Liberal successfully predicts I’d hate Kaine’s plan. Score!
The first motion made on June 23 should be a motion to adjourn.
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About the author
The right wants to jeer him. The left wants to censor him. Moderates usually want both. Brian Kirwin is a political consultant and public relations strategist in Virginia Beach with a lightning-rod flair. Brian also serves on the VB Arts & Humanities Commission and frequently appears on Hampton Roads theatrical stages, if only to prove that all actors aren’t liberals. Kirwin’s columns stir up debate and hit the political scene with no punches pulled.
Comments
8 Responses to "Kaine: Raise sales tax, grantor’s tax, car taxes"
The story is poorly written, as it would require a change in state law to do what’s proposed as reported.
First of all, mass transit isn’t directly paid for out of the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF), but rather the Commonwealth Mass Transit Fund (CMTF). 14.7% of monies collected for the TTF go to the CMTF.
What Kaine could do is deposit the Grantor’s Tax money directly into the CMTF.
Henry, everything they do is a change in state law. That’s kind of the point of a legislature.
[...] And according to the Virginian-Pilot, the house tax would be used to pay mostly for mass transit, (to quote Bearing Drift’s Brian Kirwin, Buy a house = Pay for buses). [...]
[...] does a good job dissecting the proposal, as does Brian Kirwin, Va Patriot and LG Bill Bolling. May 12th, 2008 at 1:15 pm | Tags: Virginia, bad idea, politics, [...]
Kaine is the dog with a bone…can’t let go of the often failed regional tax scam or the sacrosanct 6 projects (now 7 with the HRBT finally included)
Grantor’s tax was universally rejected as unfair, but is back.
The 2006 Referendum has been totally ignored.
Who ever thought transportation could be so much fun?
Brian,
My point was that the money couldn’t be filtered that way under the current formulas.
Attack Kaine if you wish, but at least he’s trying to do something for Transportation. While I wouldn’t have drawn up a plan that looks like his, I’ll concentrate on tweaking it until someone puts a better plan on the table.
[...] Kaine: Raise sales tax, grantor’s tax, car taxes Brian Kirwin at Bearing Drift [...]
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