Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 7 · column 1 of 6 · from the scan, no model involved
Mortgaging our future to
pay for a political promise is simply bad policy. Governor Gilmore found an issue that resonated with Virginia voters three years ago: repeal of the car tax. . The reasons for the appeal are obvious and accurate. For many Virginians, particularly those in rural areas, a tax on a necessity such as a car can cause them to disproportionately carry a bigger share of the state tax burden.
Unlike income taxes which are withheld and property taxes paid via a mortgage, paying the car tax is a one time annual hit to a taxpayer's wallet. As appealing as total repeal is, we must slow down the current phaseout of the repeal until we have found some real way to pay for it.
State Senator John Chichester, the Republican Chairman of the Finance Committee was on the money v^hen he said: "(w)e will stop the car-tax (phaseout) to keep our children and grandchildren from paying for a benefit we receive now. That is the only fiscally conservative cjourse." i The Virginia Senate, which is controlled by the Republicans, is not supporting the current increase of the amount of the repeal for good reason - it is unaffordable at this time. To implement the Governor's plan at this point would jeopardize teachers' pensions, funnel money away from the tobacco settlement and reduce services to the disabled.
Furthermore, once the tax is totally repealed, it will cost roughly $1 billion a year much more than was ever projected when the proposal
93.1%