The biggest flaw in the conservative ideological grab bag is their no tax pledge. The fact that taxes pay for public things is too complex for their little minds. They can't seem to get past mumbling something about "small government."
So these right wing freeloaders have decided to borrow, with interest, the money needed for transportation spending. This avoids reforms due to more fuel efficient vehicles, like introducing a mileage tax in conjunction to the gas tax. Not only that, the revenue bonds are tied to vehicle registration, which means a big increase somewhere in our future.
But boy, do we have a surplus or what!!!
jsonline: Wisconsin is set to issue as much as $393.6 million of revenue bonds today in its biggest transportation borrowing ever. The debt is backed by vehicle registration fees, according to bond documents. The transaction includes $270 million of securities to finance highway projects and $41 million to refund debt. Officials may also sell $82.7 million to refinance bonds maturing further out, putting the proceeds in escrow until the debt can be repaid …
The bottom line?
If the state issues the entire amount, it would be the largest transportation-revenue borrowing ever for Wisconsin, the state’s capital finance director Kevin Taylor said. Debt sold for transportation projects has earned 3.7 percent this year through March 18.
And guess who pays that 3.7 percent? WE DO. So quick math indicates that it will taxpayers an extra $14.5 million a year instead of using a portion of our one-time surplus to pay cash for these road projects.
ReplyDeleteHigher-than-needed costs because of more failed trickle-down policies. That's "fiscal conservatism", isn't it?
This excise tax in the form of revenue bonds come as no surprise to me. Walker earlier floated out his 'no state income tax' trial balloon, and while that part of his agenda hasn't kicked in yet, continued efforts (like this)to shift the tax burden to the lower brackets has and we can look forward to other tax reforms that favor the already well off, such as ending the Combined Reporting requirement and eliminating Capital Gains taxes altogether.
ReplyDeleteCheck out this post for more detail: http://goo.gl/nCQJ7Y