Monday, 7 February 2000
http://www.azstarnet.com/public/dnews/0207R3.html
By Rhonda Bodfield Sander
The Arizona Daily Star
PHOENIX - A fight is brewing between proponents of shaving
the state's vehicle license tax and transportation officials who
say a proposal that might go to voters in November could cripple
attempts to cut traffic congestion.
The measure's sponsor, Mesa Republican Rep. Marilyn Jarrett, has
been down to Green Valley and central Tucson in recent weeks to
plug the plan and circulate petitions.
If she gets the 101,762 required signatures, voters will decide
whether the vehicle license tax should be replaced with a one-time
$8.50 plate processing fee and a $25 yearly registration fee.
The proposal also calls for a three-cent-per-gallon gas tax to
replace some of the revenues.
Harold van Gilder, a Sierra Vista city councilman, is aiding the
effort because ``the best thing you can say about our tax is that
it's onerous.''
He's done the math and if he drives an average of 20,000 miles
a year, getting 20 miles to the gallon, he'll pay an additional
$34 a year at the pump. Even once he pays the $25 registration
fee, it's a better deal than the $230 he paid last year to register
his 4-year-old car. ``It's a few extra nights on the town or some
nicer gifts at Christmas.''
Believes voters would support plan
Van Gilder doesn't buy the doom scenarios painted by government
officials. In 1993, Sierra Vista had a primary property rate of
59 cents per $100 in assessed valuation. Today, the primary rate
is less than one cent. It just takes a little courage and commitment,
he said.
So far, he's not had anyone refuse to sign it.
``I'll tell you, if it gets on the ballot, the people of Arizona
will pass it.''
It wouldn't be without precedent. Washington voters just did.
Disgruntled taxpayers there replaced the state's value-based registration
fee with a flat $30 annual fee. Not only that, but it said that
any future tax increase has to go to a public vote.
This year, Washington's state budget will take a $750 million
hit.
Washington Rep. Renee Radcliff, vice chairwoman of the Republican
caucus, said she'll never deny it was bad policy, but the Legislature
is doing its best to implement it. What it means, she said, is
that construction projects slated to reduce congestion in growing
Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane won't get done.
``We're building a bare-bones budget. Clearly, the public is not
in the mood for us to raise taxes, so we'll look at efficiency
measures before we look for new money,'' she said.
The state Department of Transportation recently did an analysis
showing that even with the added gastax, transportation funding
would be cut by $2.9 billion over the next 10 years.
Pima County annually would lose $10 million.
Vehicle taxes are unpopular
Deputy County Administrator Martin Willett this year is watching
bills that could limit the county's ability to impose a sales
tax.
There are bills to reduce income tax rates and bills to cap the
county's ability to raise property taxes. But of all of them,
the initiative is the one that's considered the most viable and
the most worrisome. And that's because the tax happens to be one
of the most unpopular.
Voters approved the tax in 1940. But back then, you could buy
a top-of-the-line Chrysler for $1,200 and pay $32 in taxes. A
1997 study showed that of 24 states that have a vehicle property
tax, Arizona ranked eighth.
Residents get a tax bill for $400 to register their new cars and
it's highly visible - unlike property taxes, which tend to be
hidden in mortgage payments, or sales taxes, which get spread
out over a year's worth of purchases, Willett said.
``People like police. They think a jail has to be there. If you
ask people individually if it's important to let poor children
without insurance see a doctor, they'll say it's a social obligation.
But collectively, it seems it's this schism where nobody thinks
they should have to pay for it,'' he said.
Jarrett, who lives in a rapidly growing area that has some severe
traffic problems already, was working on legislation that she
touted as a less severe form of the initiative. Under her plan,
car registration would cost $50, trucks $75 and recreational vehicles
$100. She also wanted to replace some of the missing revenue with
a small sales tax increase.
But the measure failed Friday in the House Ways and Means Committee.
Current plan already cuts fees
Tucson Republican Sen. Keith Bee is one of the measure's unlikely
opponents, given he was one of the most vocal advocates of reducing
the tax earlier in his career. But Bee noted the Legislature has
cut the tax by a fourth over the past few sessions and while Arizona's
tax looks high compared to many neighboring states, those states
often tax cars under a personal property tax.
According to the Department of Motor Vehicles, it cost $402 to
register a $20,000 car in 1998. After several gradual cuts, that
same car in December cost $366 to register.
It would take a full 25-cent gas tax to replace the missing revenue,
according to his calculations. ``All you're doing is going from
the left pocket to the right pocket,'' he said.
Rep. Lou-Ann Preble, a Tucson Republican, said she didn't see
any Green Valley constituents sign the petitions at the meeting
she attended. But Ken Marcus, president of the Pima County Taxpayers
Association, said he saw solid support at a recent District 13
meeting.
Marcus said the tax penalizes people for driving newer cars, which
defeats goals to improve air quality. He also said it encourages
residents, especially those with pricey recreational vehicles,
to license their vehicles out of state.
Still, some say there's something inherently unfair about the
gas tax replacement, which in effect, doles out the same level
of tax burden to someone driving a new Lexus as to someone driving
a 1978 Pontiac. In fact, it's worse, because now the annual minimum
tax is $10. About 100,000 of the roughly 4 million registered
vehicles in the state pay that amount.
Some don't support initiative
``I hate the vehicle license tax,'' conceded Don Hartman, an
accountant who moved to Tucson 14 years ago. He pays about $200
a year for his three older vehicles, but a friend of his just
shelled out nearly $1,000 to register his new Land Rover. Still,
he's not likely to sign any initiative petitions.
``I'm not 100 percent sure that government needs all the revenue
it gets, but looking at our streets and roads, it appears ADOT
needs all the money it can get.''
It's the policy that really bothers him. ``I don't come down on
either the liberal or conservative side, but the gas tax does
put a heavier burden on the poorer segment of the population,''
Hartman said.
The governor's transportation adviser, John Carlson, said losing
the funding could hurt chances to do responsible transportation
planning.
The Vision 21 Task Force the governor gathered last year is expected
to release preliminary recommendations on road projects and how
to pay for them in August. Carlson said not only would current
projects be threatened, but future projects might be jeopardized
as well, such as the $300 million potential widening of Interstate
10 from Ina Road up to Phoenix.
The state transportation department last year completed a study
on the corridor, finding unacceptable congestion levels in 39
of 49 road segments. Exits at Marana, Tangerine Road, Grant Road
and Speedway were among them. But so were interchanges at Picacho,
Casa Grande and Eloy.
Using 1996 data, the department found up to 35 percent of the
traffic on that corridor to be trucks.
Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce lobbyist Ron Stuht said
he's been traveling that strip three times a week for five years.
``The traffic has increased dramatically over that time and it
seems to me like there are considerably more big trucks out there
and it's all hours of the day and night,'' he said.
Trucks pull into the left lane to pass slower trucks, slowing
down cars in the high-speed lanes. ``When you have a long, long
line of traffic, with miles of trucks and cars moving in and out
of lanes, it's very dangerous.''
Tucson's Rep. Preble agrees. ``I don't feel comfortable and safe
on I-10 anymore.'' And she's against any moves to undermine traffic
improvements in Pima County. ``Here, we'd be going right back
up to fight for our fair share.''
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