Posted on 11/06/2005 12:28:27 PM PST by steve-b
A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that the District cannot impose a commuter tax without the permission of Congress, dealing another blow to the city's quest for home rule.
In a sharply worded opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reinforced the view that the District is a creation of Congress and subject to its will. The ruling was signed by three judges, including John G. Roberts Jr., who had heard the case before he became chief justice of the United States.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Following the old outdated Constitution.
And with about 532 members of Congress living in either
Virginia or Maryland what are the chances of them voting
to change the law.
Hmmm, you mean the pie in the sky mass transporation systems can't pay for themselves? Now there's a first.
??? We're talking about commuter taxes.
Steve, I think it's fairly clear that roads are already taxed thorugh gasoline fees, car license fees, driver's license fees and toll roads. Now that should not be limited to the District, because those fees are collected from the states and used on their roads.
What is more limited to the District is Bus lines and rail commuter rail lines. If the District is trying to raise revenues, that would be my best guess as to what fees they are trying to recoup.
Commuter taxes, wherever imposed, all go to help fund mass transit, usually with some corruption add-ins.
Washington DC gets a substantial Federal payment to make up for the lack of commuter taxes. They want the Federal payment and the commuter tax too. they want the people who work in Washington to pay for those who live in Washington and dont work.
That's not a relevant issue here -- the local transit system is a joint MD/DC/VA project; it doesn't much matter which of them pays for what (except that the politicians bicker over it: the less their jurisdiction pays, the more they have for graft and boodle).
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