Mount Vernon — To the Editor:
I disagree with Scott Surovell's call for increased taxes as a solution to our road problems. Putting the solution on the back of the tax payers in a weak economy will make the local economy worse and ignores the real problems as I see. There is no guarantee that this money would be slated for road improvements as we may envision them, Virginia already generates the 10th highest amount of state and local motor fuel tax revenues, and the volume of traffic going through this area has increased demand for fuel to where we have among the highest prices at the pump in a 50-mile radius.
Over the last 15 years, I have seen my property taxes more than double. Let's assume that we didn't have the housing bubble. I don't think that the county would have doubled the property tax rate over this period. Therefore, the annual budgets would have had to reflect more modest tax increases which would have meant less spending. So what happened to all this money? It certainly didn't go to improving our roads and other infrastructure. Also, Fairfax County has one of the highest property tax rates in the state. Why would I assume the same officials would be any more careful with a gas tax revenue increase?
According to a U.S. Census Bureau annual survey, Virginia generates the 10th highest state and local fuel tax revenue dollars in comparison to other states. The volume of this revenue has steadily increased over the last several years. If you take out Florida and Washington State which have no state income tax, Virginia is 8th. In addition, Northern Virginia counties also charge an additional 2.1 percent sales tax on top of the 17.5 cents. To say that we should increase this tax because we haven't had an increase since Scott Surovell was in high school is a non-reason and ignores the big picture. Which is, how is the money being spent?
Finally, Interstate 95 is the only practical route North to South vis-à-vis on the east coast. As a result, residents of this area pay premium prices for gasoline due to demand. The price for gas in many places in Maryland is lower than the price in Fairfax County even though Maryland has a higher gas tax rate. I commuted to Bowie up until last year and I paid at least 10 cents per gallon less. I've gotten gas in Fredericksburg at the same Virginia tax rate (perhaps less the 2.1 percent sales tax) and paid much less than Fairfax County. In an already sluggish economy where disposable income is less or non-existent, paying even more at the pump isn't going to improve the lives of our citizens.
I think our elected officials in their capacities need to live within the revenues that we have rather than adding to the burden of the people they are elected to serve. I suggest going line by line through the budget and eliminate waste. Many of our citizens have had to do this in their households in this economy, so why can't our elected officials do the same?
W. Munkacsy