Still I wonder,
Who'll tax the rain?
Posted on 02/05/2019 12:51:34 PM PST by Red Badger
Idea Is To Protect Garden State's Streams, Rivers And Bays From Potentially Toxic Storm Runoff From Salt And Lawn Fertilizers
ELIZABETH, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — New Jersey is one of the highest taxed states in the country.
Now, residents and businesses could be taxed extra … when it rains.
Save it for a rainy day. Some of your hard-earned dollars may be taken away as the weather turns ugly and rain drops fall on the Garden State. A new bill calls for the creation of local or regional storm water utilities, giving local counties and municipalities the power to collect a tax from properties with large paved surfaces such as parking lots, CBS2’s Meg Baker reported.
That’s businesses and homeowners.
The bill passed in the Senate and the Assembly and is now headed to Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk.
“With all the salt that we’ve had on roads recently, that’s all running into the sewer systems. So you can’t ignore problems because they don’t go away,” Senate President Steve Sweeney said.
Sweeney said most states already have storm water utilities that collect and filter runoff from storms. In New Jersey, the runoff goes directly into streams, rivers and bays, carrying with it pollution like lawn fertilizers that contaminate the waterways.
MORE: Gov. Murphy Signs Bill That Will Eventually Raise Minimum Wage In N.J. To $15 An Hour
Former governor and current state Sen. Richard Codey said it’s necessary.
“A lot of our economy is based on, obviously, the shore. We gotta make sure we keep it that way,” Codey said.
Some homeowners aren’t a fan of the plan, either.
“They are crazy. As it is, there are too much taxes in New Jersey,” Elizabeth resident Ramon Columna said. “Why would we want more taxes especially on cement, ya know?”
“Our homeowner’s taxes are as high as they can possibly be. They shouldn’t go any higher. It’s not fair,” resident Leslie Cedillo added.
MORE: New Jersey’s Gas Tax Jumps For 2nd Time In 2 Years
Some Republicans have dubbed the bill the “Rain Tax,” saying another tax makes New Jersey even more unaffordable, and state Sen. Tom Kean Jr. agrees.
“We all want to protect our environment. We all want to preserve it for future generations. But this is a weighted tax. The citizens of New Jersey … really with no oversight and no way to defend themselves against tax increases at local levels,” Kean said.
When asked what he would say to taxpayers who say they cannot afford another tax, Codey said, “It’s a small cost to live safely.”
Other supporters say creating these utilities would help reduce flooding caused by storms.
How does New Jersey put up with such idiocy?
Rain Tax is just another scam on the people. Next comes the Sun Tax, then the Cloud Tax, then the Dirt tax...................
This is a political career killer.
Maryland tried this and had to repeal it. In fact, repealing the rain tax was one of the things that got Governor Hogan elected.
I keep thinking that when the tipping point comes, progressives are going to think of the days of the French Revolution as comparatively good times.
There really is no punishment fitting enough for these losers.
How much runoff from all the roads built with taxpayers money plus the taxes to maintain them? Is going to come up with a rain road tax now?
And it just keeps happening....and WHY?
Because the STUPID LEFTIST voters keep voting these communists back into office. Vote them all out in a huge referendum and IT WILL STOP!!!!!
No wonder the northeast is bleeding people
Why any sane person would remain there and continue to be taxed to death is beyond me.
Time to start executing these greedy idiotic bastards... Legally, of course, after a fair trial, then string ‘em up!
No wonder why everyone is moving out of the US Northeast who’s not connected to Wall Street.
I wonder if this measure would nationally correspond with those states making COLLECTION OF RAINWATER illegal:
Yes, there are some states that FORBID people to save water falling from the sky.
In other places it is called a storm water fee. And is levied as a special assessment. It is for drainage improvements. Living in Florida it is just the norm. Runoff is a major threat to the Indian River Lagoon and the St. Lucie river.
This was proposed where I live about 4 or 5 years ago and was shouted down. It has been proposed several other places over the last 10 years. I do not know if anyplace has started collecting yet. I have been surprised that California hasn’t started it yet. However, there is constant pressure from the EPA to clean up our water, even water falling from the sky, so I imagine that it will eventually be put in place somewhere.
The alternatives the EPA are proposing are porous concrete, planters everywhere, catch basins, etc. These are ALL very high maintenance (costly) items.
The lead is a bit misleading: It looks like a tax on property with lots of paving, not a tax imposed when it rains.
Houston imposed a drainage fee recently. While it has been a mess as implemented, I don’t really see a problem with it in theory. If you need to build new infrastructure to control flooding caused by increased runoff from developed property, it seems fair to have the owners of the property causing the runoff to pay for it. More fair than just taxing everyone to pay for it.
Even Wall Streeters don’t need to live there any more. With internet you can be a trader in Trinidad...................
“How does New Jersey put up with such idiocy?”
They love it...the majority votes for democrats.
They put up with it because they’re stupid, but they don’t know they’re stupid. They think they’re smart east coast intellectuals looking down on those of us in “fly over country”. Florida is still fly over country as is Georgia.
The worst thing about that is, they move to a southern state, such as Georgia, and vote for someone who would enact similar policies, such as Stacey Abrams.
They should stay where they are, fight, and learn from experience who not to vote for.
Neah. They’re going to tax chimneys next.
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