Car fees bill gains traction in committee
By Colleen Slevin, Associated Press
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
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A proposed $25 hike for car registration fees passed its first test at the state Capitol on Monday, but the plan to raise more money for highway and bridge maintenance still faces an uphill climb.
The Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee voted 3-2 to back the fee hike, along with two other increases - a hike in ownership taxes for some slightly older cars and a $6-a-day fee on all rental cars - and send them to the appropriations committee. The vote was along party lines, with all Democrats voting for the measure (Senate Bill 244) and all Republicans voting against it.
The bill is being pushed by road contractors, asphalt makers, the trucking industry and some business groups such as the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, as lawmakers rush to finish business by the close of their session next week. The measure also is supported by the state transportation department as well as mayors and town managers from Northglenn, Commerce City, Broomfield and Frisco. They testified in support of the bill Monday.
The only opponents in the room were representatives of rental car companies and Farmers Insurance, who said that Coloradans who rented cars while theirs was in the shop would be hit with the $6 fee, not just tourists. Together with current taxes, they estimate that the total tax on rental cars in Denver would be about 33 percent.
Lawmakers are also concerned about what average Coloradans think about adding new taxes and fees. Gov. Bill Ritter floated a $100 registration fee earlier this year but backed off after failing to find enough support.
How it would work
Colorado's current specific ownership tax on cars is based on the value of the vehicle, and it gradually declines to $3 a year for cars 10 years and older. Senate Bill 44 would change that and require that drivers pay a total of $75 a year in ownership taxes and a new infrastructure fee.
Drivers of newer cars usually pay more than $75 already and wouldn't be affected. According to the state transportation department, the change would affect cars between five and nine years old that are worth $20,000 or more.
The owners of cars 10 years and older who currently pay $3 a year would be grandfathered in.
Comments
Posted by Gene on April 29, 2008 at 6:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The Democrats are tenacious on taxes.
Posted by VVVV on April 29, 2008 at 6:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)
So do we need the roads fixed, or are the contractors just running out of development work, and need help from their friends in the State Senate?
I'm still having trouble determining the logic behind the ownership lines. So the Democrats are owned by the Sierra Club, labor unions, housing developers, and government transportation contractors, and the Republicans by the NRA, CEOs, housing developers, and oil companies. I just can't seem to discern any difference anymore. I guess if I attended one of their stockholder meetings this fall, I'd understand a bit more, but of course I'm not important enough to be allowed in.
Posted by Art on April 29, 2008 at 7:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Just another way of getting our money and giving it to the special interests. Anyone who beleives that these extra dollars will actually go to highways is either very naive or was born yesterday. Ref C money was to go to highways and when the robber barons, um sorry, the legislators, determined that there was a gold mine here the money did not go where it was promised. So now they need to find a new way to get more of our money to spend on whatever grand new schemes they come up with regardless of what will be promised.
Posted by bodypains on April 29, 2008 at 10:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Most low income people own older cars, if they need a new car they use tax returns to replace their car with another used car. Most of them can't even afford insurance. The answer is also not public transportation. Alot of areas don't have it yet. So yet another example of stepping on the little guy, for some reason the little guy pays for all the big guys fun. I say take the tax cuts away from the profiting oil company and use that to fix the road.
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