Posts tagged Clean Air Compliance Fee
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WMATA budget not a crisis thanks to leadership, though some harmful cuts remain
Last year’s budget season was full of emergency appeals to save Metro. This year, there have been none. Yes, Metro has a budget gap this year. As it did last year, and the year before. Early projections said that if fares and jurisdictional contributions stayed the same as this year, Metro would be $74 million short of the money it needed to maintain the same level of service. … Keep reading…
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Gray budget generally good for transportation
Mayor Gray released his proposed budget on Friday. It makes deep cuts in many areas, especially social services, but makes some exciting investments in transit funding, especially a big commitment to the streetcar program. Besides a capital investment in streetcars, the budget maintains Circulator funding and gives WMATA a small increase, but not enough to stave off Metro… Keep reading…
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Got any big ideas for the DDOT budget?
DC faces huge budget gaps, and every agency is being asked to make cuts, most of which take a little from everything. For DDOT, do you have any ideas for bigger cuts that should be considered, or revenue increases to look into? The DC Council held a marathon hearing yesterday to listen to feedback on closing DC’s massive budget gap. Most of the witnesses just asked for specific… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: At the market
Free marketeers for government subsidies; Market-rate hate crimes; Reckless driver sues victim’s family; Gray might raise parking taxes; Tregoning for DMPED?; Security theater proliferates at area airports; NoMA is in good shape; And…. Keep reading…
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Revenue increases should also internalize environmental externalities
This week, the DC Council will decide how to close a $190 million shortfall in the FY2009 budget, and discuss how to begin tackling the additional $150 million projected gap for 2010. Lawmakers are inevitably going to look for a mix of spending cuts and revenue increases. This morning, Jenny Reed suggested ending the special tax exemption for other states’ municipal bonds as… Keep reading…
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“Hanging on to the last vestiges of a car-based economy”
DC Councilmembers Jim Graham, Tommy Wells, and Phil Mendelson had sharp questions for representatives of numerous industry groups at yesterday’s hearing on the parking tax loophole. Clearly coordinated in advance, industry reps from the hotels, universities, hospitals, building owners, Pepco, and even nursing homes and Covenant House (always good to pull the heartstrings… Keep reading…
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Testimony on parking tax loophole
The hearing is at 2:00. Comments? Keep reading…
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Testify to close the free-parking tax loophole
Tomorrow, the DC Council will hold a hearing on the “Clean Air Compliance Fee” bill. Currently, DC (and other jurisdictions) tax parking garages and paid employee parking. But there’s a loophole: if an office gives out free parking, there’s no tax, even though the impact of the cars on the roads and the environment is just as great (or greater, because free… Keep reading…
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Debating the free-parking “clean air fee”
My endorsement of the DC Council’s “clean air fee” proposal generated some lively debate. Here are some of the objections raised, and my responses. Keep reading…
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Taxing the parking subsidies of free spaces
If a parking garage in DC rents out spaces, they have to pay a sales tax. But if an employer gives away the parking, they pay nothing. Yet they are still consuming space that could be used for other purposes, are still creating wear and tear on the roads and pollution. Is this fair? Keep reading…