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State Representative Kurt Zellers
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-5502
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OP/ED COLUMN
FINDING A SOLUTION TO THE TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM
This past weekend the Minnesota House met on Saturday to vote on the transportation bill. I wanted to give the voters in our area some of the high lights and low lights of this massive tax increase that will surely be vetoed by Governor Pawlenty.
If this bill became law, the new taxes and fees included would be an increase of $885 MILLION per year on the Minnesota taxpayer. This is roughly a $550 tax increase for the average Minnesota family every year. The taxes and fees included in this bill: 1) a 10 cent gas tax increase; 2) a "wheelage tax" on every car once a year by your county; 3) an increase in the price of license tabs; 4) a 7 county metro only sales taxes increase; 5) a metro only tax on new cars; 6) a new state-wide sales tax for transportation; and 7) a dedicated sales tax on leased cars.
While I fully believe that we need to improve our transportation systems in Minnesota, there were two main reasons I could not, with a clear conscience, vote for this massive, multi-pronged tax increase. First, because it would mean the average Minnesota family would have to pay an additional $550 a year in NEW taxes. That’s simply not fair when local, state and federal governments are already taking way too much out of the pockets of our working families. Second, and most importantly, this bill did NOT include Governor Pawlenty’s bonding proposal that would FINALLY provide the funding to finish Highway 610 and fix the "Devil’s Triangle" at County road 81 and Highway 169.
There are other reasons as well. The 50% increase in the gas tax alone would be an enormous burden for many of the residents in our area that travel downtown or across the metro to their job. As well as any sector of the business community that involves route sales or is dependent upon over the road trucks to deliver their products - they will see an increase in the cost to get a product to market. And how will they pay for these new costs? They will pass these costs along to us, the consumers.
Increases in sales tax on new cars in the metro area will mean that new car buyers will shop in Hudson, WI; Fargo, ND or Sioux Falls, SD for their new vehicle. Why would we want to drive an already price conscience consumer to another state? I think we should keep the buyers here, so that we collect the taxes we are already imposing.
There are other reasons for not raising these oppressive taxes and fees, but for me it comes down to the simple fact that we have a budget surplus of over $2 BILLION dollars and a current budget of $34 BILLION dollars. There is more than enough money in our State’s budget to fix our road and bridge needs.
Instead of spending the time to pass a bill which everyone knows will be vetoed, we should have worked on a bill which both sides can agree on. I look forward to the future, to working across party lines to craft a bill that will benefit all Minnesotans, and make their commutes shorter and safer.
News Items
- Legislative Update (April 20, 2013) - (Posted: Apr 20 2013 2:43PM)
- Zellers Statement on House DFL Budget Framework - (Posted: Mar 19 2013 4:57PM)
- ZELLERS STATEMENT ON FEBRUARY FORECAST - (Posted: Mar 1 2013 6:02PM)
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