Support sputters for regional sales tax

Of course if you are a CEO of a company probably pulling six figures plus O6 military retirement, of course you're not going to feel you're overtaxed. A five cents a gallon gas tax increase or a three cents regional sales tax would be nothing at all to some people with that kind of income. The same can't be said of the rest of us.

Greenmun of course does not refute Buckhead's accurate assertions that we are not overtaxed in this Commonwealth at all. Of the three major taxes used to finance transportation, that is the gas tax, the sales tax, and motor vehicle sales and use tax, we rank in the lower third of the nation. Point is, if we want a class A system we have to pay for it. Every honest commuter in this region now has daily stories about the delay and inconvenience caused by congestion at the choke points we have all come to know so well. The high rise bridge, Bowers Hill, the mid town and the downtown tunnel, I-264 and I-64, I-264 into Norfolk in the AM, the list goes on and on. And we are held hostage by the Speaker of the House of Delegates who continues a decade of denial, delay, decay, and deterioration of our transportation system that has cost us over $4,500,000,000 because of this inaction. It is time for citizens to rebel and if the Legislature does not adopt a funding plan at the special session, throw the bums out of office.

"Buckhead" attempts to claim that the problem are GOP ledgislators that aren't willing to keep raising taxes to pay for 6 highway projects chosen by an all-appointed MPO and PDC that don't really offer us locals any meaningful congestion relief, yet the residents of Tidewater are being targeted by the Governor and General Assembly pay for these speculative, so-called "economic development investments". Buckhead, the problem isn't citizens seeking to control ever increasing state spending and taxes, the problem is all-appointed regional government chosing the wrong projects, VDOT wasting billions we already gave to them, a state government that keep robbing the Transportation Trust Fund to spend on less important things in the General Fund. The problem has been Democratic governors that keep adding new "entitlements" like day care called "preschool". The problem are bad priorities in Richmond, not taxpayers.

On top of everything else, we've got companies such as E.W. Williams that create massive screw ups like they did in Newport News that cause massive cost overruns and delays and yet instead of being punished for it, they are given more money to finish the job! One has to wonder where the engineers for that company and VDOT got their degrees from: Cracker Jack boxes? We've got to stop rewarding errors and get people and companies in that can do a proper job of things.

I say bring on the tolls and let the users pay for what they use for the expansions and employ the general fund to maintain what we've got, which is already a mess.

The voters rejected the notion of a sales tax to pay for this package of roads by two to one.

It may have had support from special interests who wanted the taxpayers to foot the bill for a 3rd crossing for the Port of Virginia's benefit. It certainly has the support of the Pilot's editorial staff which has never seen a tax increase it will not support.

But there was never any support among the citizens for this measure.

The MPO's and Planning District Commissions that saddled us with this package of roads are made up of the Mayors and Chairs of our localities. Many of them are up for re-election. NONE of our local councilmen who voted for the HRTA should be re-elected. In Chesapeake, that leaves Mayoral candidate Alan Krasnoff as the only incumbent worthy of re-election.

I love it. More Republican representatives who don't have the backbone to properly finance clearly needed infrastructure improvements, followed by posters to this story who gripe about high taxes. We should all be appalled at the lack of responsibility the Virginia General Assembly has taken with regard to stewardship of our infrastructure. Check out historical tax rates. They're near their lowest level in 100 years. Most of the pipes, and roads and highways used today were constructed and paid for by earlier generations who loved this country enough to care for it and invest in it - thorugh tax financed projects. Unfortunately today, too many conservatives think that complaining about taxes equates to civic duty. It doesn't. If there is waste in the budget, point it out. But holding up needed improvements and citing the reason as taxes are already too high is lazy. The Commonwealth deserves better.

Yesterday, I read an article in the Virginian Pilot that mentioned tolls as a possible way to improve the transportation network in Hampton Roads. That seemed reasonable - let the users pay for road improvements. Today, I read that Delegate Bob Purkey still wants a regional sales tax. Message to Purkey - the citizens do not want more taxes.

Tax on tax then tax the tax tax etc etc etc. 40% to 50% of my yearly income goes to taxes of one type or another, it is out of control and needs to stop.
15% across the board for everyone, problem solved!

We the people of Hampton roads want finicial responsibility from Richmond not more new taxes to pay for road project or anything else. We pay enough in taxes, the delegates in both parties just need to stop trying to be all things to all people and place priorities on projects they truely want to accomplish. These Projects can be accomplished without any new taxes if Richmond would just stop spending more than they take in.

After the poll that was published about residents wanting a larger HRBT instead of the third crossing, the HRBT appears in every article. It's a shame that the GA took so long to listen to the voters. It's time to do the right thing and dump the 6 MPO projects and concentrate on widening the HRBT. THe port can pay for its own driveway. the third crossing.