Steve Burns
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON – (WMAL) Here’s something you don’t see every day: Republicans advocating for tax increases.
It came in the form of a Washington Post op-ed from three Northern Virginia Republican Supervisors: Matt Letourneau of Loudoun County, John Cook of Fairfax County, and Martin Nohe of Prince William County, each jointly writing that Governor Ralph Northam’s proposed taxes to give dedicated funding to Metro are better than the alternative – an increase in property taxes.
The plan as it stands now takes money from the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, which the three says is vital to keep up with needed road construction.
“All that money that’s been earmarked for roads…would get diverted to Metro. We still need to build those roads,” Letourneau told WMAL. “Those are all things that our localities have been working on for a long time. We have to still fund that, except now we’d be funding that through local property taxes.”
Letourneau said the main two taxes Northam has proposed likely would not even be seen by local residents.
“Those particular taxes that have been proposed are not going to hurt anybody in this region,” he said. “We’re talking about visitors on hotel taxes, and we’re talking about one-time, small amount on real estate transactions. A lot of those folks are moving out of the region anyway.”
To Cook, the message is meant to resonate with lawmakers from outside Northern Virginia.
“It is Republicans from Northern Virginia trying to speak to Republicans, perhaps, from other parts of Virginia who may not be familiar with our circumstances here,” he said. “We’re saying, ‘Actually, while you may call this tax increases, it’s going to save money to our constituents.'”
Cook called property tax hikes a “horrible way” to pay for road construction.
“We need to keep our economy moving,” he said. “We fuel the economy of the entire state here in Northern Virginia.”
Some Delegates, including the original bill’s chief sponsor, Del. Tim Hugo, have maintained there will still be plenty of money left over in NVTA funds for road construction. Both Letourneau and Cook disputed that.
“I realize if you’re from some smaller places in Virginia, something like $20 or $30 million that are left might sound like a lot of money, but here in Fairfax County, you can’t build a lot for $20 million,” Cook said.
“Honestly, I think it’s a cop out for Republicans in the General Assembly to fall back on a tax increase argument like that,” he said. “Because they know very well that all they’re doing is passing the buck onto local governments where we have to raise taxes in order to fund these services.”
Northam’s plan would give Metro Virginia’s share of the $500 million per year requested by the agency for dedicated, permanent funding. Maryland also has a plan in place to fund Metro through its Transportation Trust Fund, while D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser wants to fund the District’s portion through increases in commercial property taxes, hotel taxes, and taxes on ride-share companies like Uber and Lyft.
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