"The percentage of Virginia's Car Tax Subsidy has decreased to 63% (from 70%) in 2012. This means a slight increase in your tax bill from last year. Please note that Virginia's Car Tax subsidy provided to Fairfax County and other localities is capped at a fixed dollar amount. As the county's tax base increases (based on additional cars and tax levy), the amount of the subsidy for each car must decrease." Quoted from Fairfax County green slip insert.

Can anyone explain this tax increase in a more understandable manner? I read daily newspapers (Post & Times) plus local papers and this *tax increase* did not hit my radar screen. Is this the work of the Democratically controlled Fairfax County Board of Supervisors? Doubt the Republican controlled State legislature and Republican Governor would implement a tax increase like this. Thanks :-)

I lied

Get out of your basement more

teh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Is this the work of the Democratically controlled Fairfax
> County Board of Supervisors? Doubt the Republican
> controlled State legislature and Republican
> Governor would implement a tax increase like this.

Sorry, back in 2005 Mark Warner (D) proposed a funded elimination of the tax by 2008. State Republicans rejected that and instead tried to get a non-funded 2012 phaseout through, which didn't pass.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/feb/7/20050207-115844-3861r/?page=all

I would surmise that teh() wasn't particularly good at solving word problems.

Fixed amount of total subsidy divided by more cars = less subsidy per car.

Then one could ask during the downturn when there were fewer cars why any extra subsidy wasn't rebated back to county residents.

HEY! We need money too. Pay up or we will take your car and sell it at auction.

You need to pay more taxes. Or else we will have to ask thousands of illegals to leave the section 8 luxury condos.

Yeah gringo scum, pay up. I need to send more money to my home country while i'm here illegaly sucking off the system, plus my wife is having another child, that means another pay raise and bigger apt from the state. so don't fuck up, work harder!!!

NEED MOAR MONEY

This is the dumbest tax. It discourages people from driving newer, safer, more fuel-efficient cars. When you go out and buy a brand new $40K+ car, you have to figure in that you will have to fork over at least $1k/year in taxes for the next few years.

If the government is interested in encouraging more fuel efficiency, safety and more consumer purchases, it is a tax like this which is discouraging this from happening more than anything else.

Actually it was Jim Gillmore, if I remember correctly that had the idea of getting rid of the car tax. It was the issue that won him the office in '97. He started a phased approach which the tax decreased over time.....well that is until they realized they couldn't do shit because of the lost money of the car taxes. So they halted it and we are where we have been ever since.

thank you Fusilli Jerry

my political career is history

yea, the polititians slipped this one in, I don't remember hearing anything about this. so when I do my budget at the beginning of the year, instead of allocating less money for the car tax because the value of my car is going down, I need to allocate more because they have found a way to increase our taxes on the sly, hoping we'll forget about it by the time elections come around.

What really sucks is that the state has had a budget surplus for the last 3 years, including 2012. Being hit with a $600 bill in Novemeber really hurts....I wish they would just tax it other, subtle ways so we don't have to write 1 big check every year.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/virginia-politics/post/virginia-ends-fiscal-year-with-state-budget-surplus/2012/07/13/gJQAuh0fiW_blog.html

STFU and gimme more money! Remember, you didn't earn that money - the government did!