This from the Sun Gazette focuses mostly on homestead exemptions being discussed at the Virginia General Assembly, but the kicker in the article is here:
In a letter to all 140 members of the legislature, the Chamber and the Virginia Manufacturers Association criticized the plan.
“We are sympathetic to the increased tax burdens homeowners are experiencing, but feel strongly that this approach is not the right solution,” the two organizations said.
In the letter, they pointed to the plan in the late 1990s to eliminate the personal property tax on vehicles. Not only was the tax not abolished, but, in some cases, local governments increased other tax rates to compensate for lost revenue.
Ouch.
This of course is the consequence of a failed promise. Local government’s solution to replace the car tax revenue? Raise property taxes….
The spend-and-spend coalition during the late 1990’s was the downfall of the GOP in Richmond. When we started becoming the party of higher spending and lower taxes (rather than lower spending and lower taxes), that’s where we lost our bearings.
The voters have punished us duly, though there are a handful who would point towards those heady days as something of which to be proud — to which I would ask what (if any) real accomplishments the big-government Republicans acheived?