NOREEN: Only crazies back Proposition 101
With Proposition 101 we can make cuts in spending, have a chicken in every pot and with apologies to Orwell, we can all dwell on Sugarcandy Mountain forever.
If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
Proposition 101 is one of three torpedoes that have been fired at Coloradans by a gang of fringe political sociopaths. Voters will see the troika (Amendments 60 and 61 are the other two) on the general election ballot, but many may not see any danger because the measures are dressed up like Christmas gifts.
Prop 101 would gradually reduce state income tax, re-define telecommunications fees as taxes and reduce motor vehicle license and title fees so that every vehicle would be subject to a $10 flat rate; vehicle ownership taxes would be reduced to $2 for a new vehicle, $1 for a used one.
It also would eliminate a few other taxes and exempt the first $10,000 spent on any vehicle from sales tax.
When it is fully implemented, according to the Bell Policy Center, (see my blog) Proposition 101 would cut $1.7 billion in revenues annually from already-anorexic budgets. But after paying far less in taxes and fees when purchasing our cars, we’d have a hard time getting anywhere because state and local governments wouldn’t have much money for road and bridge repairs.
Slashing auto registration fees would make buying a car a lot easier, so you might expect that automobile dealers would be wildly enthusiastic about Prop 101.
“I know that it would be very appealing,” said Ann Winslow,CQ executive director of the Colorado Springs Automobile Dealers Association. “But you have to look at the big picture.”
Winslow said her organization won’t take a formal position on ballot measures for a few more weeks and that she was only speaking for herself.
The new ownership tax rates sound wonderful, but they would result in a $500 million budget reduction. If it doesn’t come from ownership taxes “it’s going to have to come from somewhere,” Winslow said.
When voters approved the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights in 1992, they didn’t foresee that an unavoidable result would be user-pay fee increases, because fees are exempt from TABOR. Fees for motor vehicles have risen dramatically: Winslow noted that in 1989 the average auto registration fee in Colorado was $98. By 1995, it had risen to $363.
The backers of Prop 101, including the looney Colorado Union of Taxpayers, represent some of the whackiest political thinking in the state. Opponents include the leadership of both major political parties, as well as gubernatorial candidates John Hickenlooper and Scott McInnis.
It’s nice to dream we can drive cars without paying fees and avoid paying for roads. Sugarcandy Mountain would be great.
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