Transportation Fees are Coming

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Denver, CO – Everyone remembers Proposition CC last November, correct? That’s the scheme from the Democrats and some wayward Republicans to keep more of your tax dollars, AKA a tax increase. Well, voters overwhelmingly rejected this at the ballot box, a rebuke to the big government parasites at the state capitol.

It was clear to almost two-thirds of people who voted – the Colorado state government has plenty of money to fund roads with existing funds.

So, what is the response of the government? Of course, they want to raise and levy fees on drivers.

Fees, in most cases, are taxes and should be a no-no without voter approval under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR). You should also know that, incorrectly, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that a fee is not a tax and not under TABOR’s purview. It happened a number of years ago – this has been an ongoing problem.

Here is the deal according to the Polis appointed head of the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the Colorado Energy Office via CPR, the bureaucrats are looking to raise fees on the usage of our roads.

So, you may be thinking, “Hey, if they use the roads, they should help pay for them.” That may appear to be logical, but when the state budget has increased by over 30% (inflation-adjusted) in the past decade, it also needs to be acknowledged that there is plenty of money to fund roads if the politicians at the state capitol are willing – WITHOUT TAXES OR FEES. Plus, voters overwhelming said NO to the government getting more money for this…Remember that Proposition CC we mentioned at the beginning of this article?

So, there is always a rub – and this is where it gets asinine.  One of the funding sources for roads and bridges is the State and Federal gas tax. Obviously, you have to use gas to pay that tax.

Well, we all know the greenies in government are mandating fuel efficiency and electric vehicles, right? This has increased the cost to manufacture cars, and that cost is passed on to the consumer (a backdoor tax). This means people are basically being forced to use less gas. In turn, there are fewer taxes collected for gas. But still, the government is getting its take, as they’re collecting taxes along the stream of commerce. Not to mention, with new vehicle values being driven up by the government mandates, consumers are taxed on that increase, as well.

This essentially is a government-created Ponzi scheme. The government has created a revenue (or rather a spending) problem by their actions, not by the actions of citizens. Yet, the politicians who control Colorado’s answers are to increase taxes and so-called fees. 

In this case, the crux of the proposed increases in fees is to tax electric cars and hybrids. Well, the taxpayers subsidize these hybrids and electric cars with cashback from the government (taxpayers) and huge tax rebates. Yeah, we’re forced to pay for other people to drive these cars.

So, our government subsidizes these special cars and now wants to tax them? Yeah, this makes zero sense. Wouldn’t the solution be just to eliminate the subsidies and tax incentives? Wouldn’t this help pay for use? 

However, this is too much common sense for the government. Consider this, if these electric cars and hybrids would be subject to the free market, what would happen?

Car dealers will tell you in study after study that the main incentive to buy these cars is subsidies. Otherwise, many dealers will not be able to move these hybrids and electrics off the lot. Elon Musk (Tesla’s scion) would lose billions if he didn’t have our tax dollars subsidizing him because he would not be able to sell his product. Oh, bummer!

Also, please don’t assume that since we only talk about electric cars and hybrid cars in this article, that new fees for gas-powered vehicles aren’t on the table. Your tax dollars are always on the table with these politicians.

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