Northern Virginia approaches a decision point on tax increases of some $300 million to $400 million to support regional transportation projects. The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority will meet Thursday to vote on each of the seven new taxes and fees in the funding package, according to the Washington Examiner (which, by the way, has done a fabulous job of covering transportation and land use issues in the Washington region).
A number of contentious issues have come up. Loudoun County is worried that a share of the bonded indebtedness taken on by the regional transportation authority might count against Loudoun’s indebtness, possibly jeopardizing its AAA bond rating. (See last week’s Examiner coverage of this topic.)
Now, it appears, objections to a five percent sales tax on automobile repairs have surfaced. The tax would raise an estimated $33 million a year. Objection No. 1: The measure would set an unfortunate precedent as a tax on services. It’s not difficult to imagine the levee breaking on that one, leading to a flood of taxes on a multitude of services for a multitude of narrow-bore needs and adding significantly to the tax burden over time. Objection No. 2: Local auto repair shops are worried that the tax will place them at a competitive disadvantage, sending consumers across county lines to shops not subject to the tax.
Objection No. 3 (this is my concern, not one mentioned in the story): Although the tax is related tangentially to car ownership, it bears only the most tenuous and indirect connection between how much a citizen pays into the transportation system and how far, and when, he drives. Its sole purpose is to raise money in the most obscure and opaque way possible so citizens don’t see or understand how much they’re being taxed. A rational transportation-funding system would make the taxes fully transparent, and would be structured to incentivize citizens to drive less.
I know this point is really subtle, because it has gone virtually unmentioned by every elected official involved in the debate, but when people drive less, there is less traffic congestion! I know that’s an awfully difficult concept for some people to wrap their arms around, but I keep thinking that if I repeat it often enough, the idea might penetrate.