An important new dynamic has entered the politics of taxes and transportation. Six Republicans in the House of Delegates — including senior legislators Del. Vince Callahan, R-McLean; Del. David Albo, R-Springfield; and Del. L. Scott Lingamfelter, R-Woodbridge — have rolled out a package of proposals to generate at least $400 million a year in new road financing for Northern Virginia.
What’s becoming increasingly clear is that the opposition of some Republican delegates to raising taxes for the Transportation Trust Fund by some $1 billion a year wasn’t a principled resistance to taxes, or even the belief that pouring more money into a broken transportation system won’t solve congestion. It was the concern that the Transportation Trust Fund formula short-changes Northern Virginia, as in fact it does.
As Michael Shear and Rosalind Helderman summarized the plan in the Washington Post Tuesday:
Under the plan, which the lawmakers presented to Northern Virginia business executives in a private meeting Monday, annual registration on automobiles in the area would more than double, from $29.50 to $59.50 for a typical passenger car.
Those who buy new vehicles or move vehicles into Northern Virginia would pay a higher tax. Tourists who rent cars and book hotel rooms would pay more. Home developers would be charged higher fees on their projects, and property taxes for office buildings would rise.
One could dismiss this initiative as simple political posturing for the consumption of constituents who are increasingly frustrated with traffic congestion. Perhaps. I can’t say. Regardless, it says something about the legislators’ understanding (or lack of it) of the nature of Virginia’s transportation crisis: The unstated assumption is that the problem is simply a lack of money to fund more transportation projects. The legislators did not include any alternatives to Business As Usual — building balanced communities, smarter urban design, telework, more creative approaches to mass transit, Intelligent Transportation Systems, etc. , etc. — in their proposal.
It will be interesting to see if the Axis of Taxes can peal off the Northern Virginia contingent from the hard-core, low-tax faction of the House of Delegates when the debate over taxes and transportation resumes in a special session later this year.