Lost in the debate over an immigration proposal that may very well prove to be entirely illegal, the Prince William County Board of Supervisors snuck in a tax increase:
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors voted yesterday to support a regional package of tax and fee increases that would raise more than $300 million a year for local transportation improvements.
With the vote, it now appears that the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority will have the votes needed to pass the revenue measures when it meets tomorrow. The Prince William vote was key, because the NVTA requires that any tax measure be approved by six of the nine Northern Virginia jurisdictions and by jurisdictions representing at least two-thirds of the region’s population.
If Prince William had voted against the tax plan, the entire regional package would have crumbled because Loudoun County is opposing it and together the two growing suburbs total more than a third of the region’s population.
The Prince William measure passed 7 to 1.
Now, the NVTA probably will raise taxes on home sales, rental cars, hotel rooms and auto repairs to pay for local road and transit projects ignored in the statewide transportation plan. The NVTA’s taxing authority was the result of a last-minute, hard-won compromise between the Republican-led General Assembly and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D), who signed the state’s first transportation funding bill in 21 years.
No word on who the one vote against the proposal was, but this quote says it all for me:
[Supervisor Marty] Nohe said he has heard from constituents who are against higher taxes and fees. But he said the situation demands tough decisions.
“You have to respond to practical realities,” Nohe said. “People are screaming for solutions.”
The reality being, we want your money. The solution being, you’ll give it to us.
July 11th, 2007 at 10:26 pm
[...] that the Below The Beltway has offered its take on this too [...]