Growls

This week’s Arlington Sun-Gazette scorches the General Assembly, actually those General Assemblies since former Gov. Jim Gilmore (R) was elected on the promise of eliminating the car tax, in one of its editorials. As most Arlington taxpayers know, the car tax has been capped with the state government paying 70% and the car owner paying the rest. In 2004, the General Assembly limited total state payments to $950 million. Consequently, with car prices rising, taxes paid by the car’s owner will be rising.

The editorial notes that “(t)axes are like vampires — unless you put a stake through their hearts, you can never be sure they are really dead. Such has been the case with the car tax.” They then conclude saying, “We don’t oppose reasonable taxation, but we have been adamant for nearly a decade on this particular issue. The public said they wanted this tax gone, and the legislature refused to go along. And, when voters forgot all about it and didn’t hold General Assembly members accountable at the polls, the legislature decided it could apply the screwgie to residents again, forcing them to pay more.” Whew, my fingers are hot from just holding the page with those words on it. The next time one of Arlington’s fine General Assembly delegation comes knocking on your door, ask them how they voted on the car tax issue!