Azwed
Invading Poland
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2000
- Posts
- 11,575
This has been a fight going on in VA for a year or two at least now. Northern Virginia is very very croweded. They need new roads and more schools to help with all the additional people. They want to increase the sales tax for the region by half a cent on the dollar from 4.5 to 5 percent.
VA is not like the states out west where a referendum can just be put on a ballot and if the referendum gets a majority then it is law. The state legislature must first approve the referendum with a majority vote before it can be put on the ballot. After several attempts the referendum finally passed the legislature and will be on the ballot in the fall.
The reason it kept failing was the at the republicans were always killing it. Now I thought the republicans were for local control? If they want more local control then isn't an area that wants to raise its own taxes a good example of local control?
Here is the most recent article about the referendum.
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Anti-Tax Groups Diverse, United On Referendum
Ballot Opponents Prepare Fight
By Lisa Rein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 14, 2002; Page B01
A diverse coalition of local, state and national groups gathered yesterday to declare the campaign themes they hope will defeat Northern Virginia's sales tax referendum for transportation projects.
Leaders of more than a dozen conservative groups that represent the elderly, families, young Republicans and other taxpayers continued their counter-campaign against the fall ballot question. They denounced a sales tax increase as anti-family and of benefit only to prominent developers whose land would increase in value if new roads were built nearby.
The anti-tax campaigners who gathered at the Marriott hotel in Tysons Corner are hoping to take the offensive, by portraying themselves as a populist force speaking for working families rather than wealthy businesses supported by Gov. Mark R. Warner (D), who is campaigning for passage of the measure. While proponents have pledged to raise up to $3 million for a campaign that will gear up in the fall, opponents said their fundraising would hit at most $1 million.
Those leading the fight for a tax increase of a half-cent on the dollar say the money it would generate is the region's only hope to fund new roads and public transit. But their foes argued yesterday that Virginia's government must first rein in spending before taxing homeowners already burdened by soaring real estate assessments.
"This is a con game, an unnecessary money grab," said Peter Ferrara of McLean, president of a new Virginia chapter of the Club for Growth, a national anti-tax group formed two years ago. "The referendum won't solve the problem of clogged roads. It will only pay for a portion of the fixes." The group plans to raise $200,000 to fight the sales tax increase, founder Steve Moore said.
Officers of the Club for Growth say they are committed to economic prosperity, not more development. New roads, they argue, would only add suburban sprawl to a region choking on traffic. Referendum opponents also include several environmental groups that were absent yesterday but have sounded some of the same themes as the anti-tax advocates -- that more roads will produce more traffic and that traffic jams do not promote quality time with families.
What the hell? This makes no sense how are more roads going to cause more traffic jams? If you have one road going to from point A to point B and then you add two more roads then that is, assuming that the two new roads are about the same length as the old road, going to reduce the traffic on the first road by 1/3.
The Northern Virginia referendum would bring the local sales tax to 5 percent, raising up to $5 billion for transportation projects over 20 years. A similar measure on the ballot in Hampton Roads would raise the tax by one cent on the dollar, raising about $6 million.
Yesterday's show of force came three days after the same groups filed suit in Richmond to halt both referendums, charging that state lawmakers violated the Virginia constitution by granting voters the power to tax themselves.
Referendum backers, who say they are preparing a message of self-governance and empowerment that will ensure relief to commuters stuck in daily traffic jams, said they have assembled a committee to lead their fight that is equally as diverse as their opponents'.
A bipartisan group of state legislators representing Northern Virginia have volunteered to campaign for a yes vote in November, said William D. Lecos, a regional business leader who is one of the proponents' chief strategists.
Lecos said opponents failed to recognize that regional sales tax increases would earmark specific projects for funds and would keep the money raised by a higher sales tax in the region.
"They're using the same old rhetoric for whatever is the issue du jour," Lecos said. "But the fact is that this is a very special and unique circumstance."
Opponents were eager yesterday to showcase their broadening support from conservative groups with statewide and national profiles, such as the National Taxpayers Union, the Eagle Forum, two groups representing the elderly and the Richmond-based Family Foundation, known more in recent years for fighting abortion than higher taxes.
Among the biggest lobbyists for a sales tax increase are businesses who say traffic congestion makes it impossible for their employees to get to work on time. Opponents say those motives are in some cases less altruistic, and yesterday they criticized prominent developers whose pockets they said would be lined by the new stream of tax dollars.
"If all these billionaire developers think new roads are so good for business, then they should be able to come up with several million dollars to pay for them themselves," said Tim Wise, president of the Arlington County Taxpayers Alliance.
The coalition was vague on how or when state government could free up enough money to give Northern Virginia relief for its chronic traffic problems. But they said the answer should not be found in the pocketbooks of voters on fixed incomes.
"Not everyone on Northern Virginia wears Gucci shoes and has Rolex watches," said Art Kelly of the United Seniors Association.
VA is not like the states out west where a referendum can just be put on a ballot and if the referendum gets a majority then it is law. The state legislature must first approve the referendum with a majority vote before it can be put on the ballot. After several attempts the referendum finally passed the legislature and will be on the ballot in the fall.
The reason it kept failing was the at the republicans were always killing it. Now I thought the republicans were for local control? If they want more local control then isn't an area that wants to raise its own taxes a good example of local control?
Here is the most recent article about the referendum.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anti-Tax Groups Diverse, United On Referendum
Ballot Opponents Prepare Fight
By Lisa Rein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 14, 2002; Page B01
A diverse coalition of local, state and national groups gathered yesterday to declare the campaign themes they hope will defeat Northern Virginia's sales tax referendum for transportation projects.
Leaders of more than a dozen conservative groups that represent the elderly, families, young Republicans and other taxpayers continued their counter-campaign against the fall ballot question. They denounced a sales tax increase as anti-family and of benefit only to prominent developers whose land would increase in value if new roads were built nearby.
The anti-tax campaigners who gathered at the Marriott hotel in Tysons Corner are hoping to take the offensive, by portraying themselves as a populist force speaking for working families rather than wealthy businesses supported by Gov. Mark R. Warner (D), who is campaigning for passage of the measure. While proponents have pledged to raise up to $3 million for a campaign that will gear up in the fall, opponents said their fundraising would hit at most $1 million.
Those leading the fight for a tax increase of a half-cent on the dollar say the money it would generate is the region's only hope to fund new roads and public transit. But their foes argued yesterday that Virginia's government must first rein in spending before taxing homeowners already burdened by soaring real estate assessments.
"This is a con game, an unnecessary money grab," said Peter Ferrara of McLean, president of a new Virginia chapter of the Club for Growth, a national anti-tax group formed two years ago. "The referendum won't solve the problem of clogged roads. It will only pay for a portion of the fixes." The group plans to raise $200,000 to fight the sales tax increase, founder Steve Moore said.
Officers of the Club for Growth say they are committed to economic prosperity, not more development. New roads, they argue, would only add suburban sprawl to a region choking on traffic. Referendum opponents also include several environmental groups that were absent yesterday but have sounded some of the same themes as the anti-tax advocates -- that more roads will produce more traffic and that traffic jams do not promote quality time with families.
What the hell? This makes no sense how are more roads going to cause more traffic jams? If you have one road going to from point A to point B and then you add two more roads then that is, assuming that the two new roads are about the same length as the old road, going to reduce the traffic on the first road by 1/3.
The Northern Virginia referendum would bring the local sales tax to 5 percent, raising up to $5 billion for transportation projects over 20 years. A similar measure on the ballot in Hampton Roads would raise the tax by one cent on the dollar, raising about $6 million.
Yesterday's show of force came three days after the same groups filed suit in Richmond to halt both referendums, charging that state lawmakers violated the Virginia constitution by granting voters the power to tax themselves.
Referendum backers, who say they are preparing a message of self-governance and empowerment that will ensure relief to commuters stuck in daily traffic jams, said they have assembled a committee to lead their fight that is equally as diverse as their opponents'.
A bipartisan group of state legislators representing Northern Virginia have volunteered to campaign for a yes vote in November, said William D. Lecos, a regional business leader who is one of the proponents' chief strategists.
Lecos said opponents failed to recognize that regional sales tax increases would earmark specific projects for funds and would keep the money raised by a higher sales tax in the region.
"They're using the same old rhetoric for whatever is the issue du jour," Lecos said. "But the fact is that this is a very special and unique circumstance."
Opponents were eager yesterday to showcase their broadening support from conservative groups with statewide and national profiles, such as the National Taxpayers Union, the Eagle Forum, two groups representing the elderly and the Richmond-based Family Foundation, known more in recent years for fighting abortion than higher taxes.
Among the biggest lobbyists for a sales tax increase are businesses who say traffic congestion makes it impossible for their employees to get to work on time. Opponents say those motives are in some cases less altruistic, and yesterday they criticized prominent developers whose pockets they said would be lined by the new stream of tax dollars.
"If all these billionaire developers think new roads are so good for business, then they should be able to come up with several million dollars to pay for them themselves," said Tim Wise, president of the Arlington County Taxpayers Alliance.
The coalition was vague on how or when state government could free up enough money to give Northern Virginia relief for its chronic traffic problems. But they said the answer should not be found in the pocketbooks of voters on fixed incomes.
"Not everyone on Northern Virginia wears Gucci shoes and has Rolex watches," said Art Kelly of the United Seniors Association.
