Proposed 6 cent Gas Tax Increase

[bowtieguy]

my local county is proposing a 6 cent increase in the gas tax. naturally the cities are bickering about who should get what in regard to their cut of the money, but that's another thread.

the newspaper illustrated the county's explanation of how the "average" driver or family of drivers will be affected. it was something like $37.50 (1 driver) to $75(2 drivers) extra per year. not a lot by any means, and we would be affected even less because we drive less than average and get more than average MPG, but that's beside the point.

the point here is, ONCE AGAIN, proliferation of taxes. where does it end? 50% of my income? 60%? 80%?!!!

i STILL fail to see the county(and cities for that matter) cutting their budgets effectively. there are still lights burning at all hours, govt vehicles endlessly idling, and fat cats(executive positions) still getting inflated salaries w/ unnecessary perks. there was a report of double dippers recently(collecting retirement AND a salary) in the orlando sentinel.

[theclencher]

I emailed the lead legislator for my state's tax bill and asked her pretty much the same thing: When is enough, enough? When govt takes 40% of our productivity? 50? 80?

She never replied.

[bowtieguy]

yup typical response, NONE!

should be interesting to see how it plays out tho. the final vote will come AFTER the final vote of a tri or quad county light rail system. so, they get to wait it out to see that verdict.

way i see it is, if the increase goes thru, i'll buy gas near work, IN ANOTHER COUNTY! but, what one county does...

oh, and the kicker w the light rail is, it goes thru the other 3 (major)towns in my county, BUT NOT MINE. subsizing anyone...

[GasSavers_Pete]

Just to clarify this point here...
A number of counties make up one State and each county can impose a tax as they think suitable.
Is that right?

Here (Australia) tax can be levied by the Federal Government and State Government only and even then there are limits according to the Australian Constitution.

Local government (= to county level I think in the US) can set charges for land rates and water rates, planning charges for building construction and alteration etc but even that is subject to State and Federal controls.

Cheers , Pete.

[theholycow]

Major levels of US government:
Federal
State
County
Town/city ("local")

Federal government levies income taxes, import tarriffs, capital gains (income specifically from investments), and some other stuff I don't remember.

States vary but tend to have income taxes, fuel taxes, various types of licensing taxes, and sales taxes. Some may have property taxes.

I think counties vary considerably from one state to the next. In my very small state, the counties don't mean much, don't seem to have much or any government, don't tax, etc; they're basically just divisions on a map. In other states, counties actually do stuff and may be able to tax.

Cities/towns tend to have real estate/property taxes (tax on land, houses, and major items like cars), fire tax (pays for fire stations), and some other minor taxes I don't remember.

[RningOnFumes]

Here in Cali, counties and cities can play with sales taxes as well. Beginning in April, our taxes went to about 8 percent. Some unlucky city in central cali voted in higher sales tax without knowledge that the state would up the sales tax and now they are at some 10plus percent on each sales.

Everyone in the US is hurting and Cali seems to be the worse of them all. We here have a few props to vote on come May 17. I voted no on all of them. IT seems the legislatures like to make mistakes on the backs of tax payers. When income was great, they spent more. Just as they peaked in spending the money came down to a trickle when the economy collapsed now the idiots in Sacramento can't get their heads out of their asses enough to figure out that they need to cut spending. The props in contention want to keep taxes up, another wants to keep taxes open for another two years and in return, we get a "rainy day fund." Where was this "rainy day fund" when the money was rolling in? They couldn't figure out that they needed to save some money when then money was rolling in, could they??

Thanks for the opportunity to rant.

[bowtieguy]

rainy day? yup, florida will be in INCREDIBLE trouble if we have another 2004 like hurricane season when 4 major ones hit.

BTW, got another rant...

now there is talk of lowering the property tax WHILE raising the sales tax to "compensate." so, for those like us that bought an affordable home, we get almost no benefit on our property tax, but blasted on everything we buy. just BRILLIANT!

[theclencher]

That would be awesome. I live in a house yet buy practically nothing.

[GasSavers_Pete]

Thanks for the explanation Holy Cow.
Your systems differs significantly from ours which is in essence our British heritage and the Westminster system changed here and there to suit local conditions.

Cheers , Pete.

[dkjones96]

It'll end when everything goes to the government and you get a spending card with your allotment on it. But they'll even still tax purchases.

I had just been talking about this with a friend of mine. They take 20% of my money at the federal level, roughly 5% at the state level, then a 6% sales tax. That means 1/3rd of my money goes to a government to keep my roads paved, since that's about all I use. But, vehicle registration and fuel taxes are supposed to fund that so I don't know if that even counts.