In an announcement made Tuesday, the Southern Environmental
Law Center (SELC) stated that the toll being proposed in Sussex County would
harm the Southside Virginia economy while disproportionately encumbering low
income and minority populations[1].
SELC joins the chorus of local, regional, and economic
development governments and bodies who also oppose the plan due to its
potential to spill traffic onto secondary roads to avoid the new tolls.
And while placing a disproportionate burden on minority and
low income populations is bad enough, another substantial issue are the
financial consequences involved in “tolling” our way towards paying for public
works projects.
The main argument for the new toll goes something like this:
build the new toll in Sussex County and use the revenue to improve I-95
(assuming I-95 can be improved)[2].
But the problem here is that new sources of revenue are being counted on to pay
for public works projects that should already be covered under the existing tax
structure. So where is the rest of Virginia’s taxpaying money going? Not to substantially
increased public services!
Particularly for a Republican like Bob McDonnell, these
kinds of efforts at raising state revenues (i.e., new tolls) should be frowned
upon, if we are to believe in the public denouncement of new taxes made by
McDonnell and his party.
If Virginia’s government cannot get its financial house in
order without new taxes, whether they be tolls or increased property taxes,
then the solution is most likely not to seek further sources of revenue. The
solution is to better spend the money that is already being infused into
Virginia’s government. This isn’t a partisan issue, it’s an issue based on
sound financial principles, namely, don’t spend unwisely and then go looking for
other sources of revenue because chances are, the pattern will continue
indefinitely.
[1] http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/latest-news-ap/southern-environmental-law-center-opposing-i--tolls-in-va/article_a809b77c-3e3e-11e2-9ff0-001a4bcf6878.html
[2] http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/latest-news-ap/southern-environmental-law-center-opposing-i--tolls-in-va/article_a809b77c-3e3e-11e2-9ff0-001a4bcf6878.html
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