[SAE72]

Originally Posted by JayCT

It is not just studies that show that tolls pay for themselves and generate revenue, it has been the actual experience of every state that has then. There is a long history to back that up. Instead of arguing with me about it and keep posting questionable reasons to not install tolls, use your time to educate yourself on them. You might just learn something.

And while you are at it, research the future of transportation fuel and what the future holds. Connecticut is a small state with most out of state drivers coming from New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts. You could have all the attractions you want to draw people here but they still will not buy gas here because they simply don’t have to. Pretty simple. Jay

Right, it is " settled" . Once again, I don't appreciate the insult. Here's some insight. Insults are a display of weakness, Mushin.

[East of the River]

In MA the toll numbers add up to where yes even after infrastructure out of staters put some in the pool. But like 80% of revenue (once you subtract operating expenses from out of state revenue) comes from in state. Essentially you have created a large inefficient tax on your own residents to capture a tiny bit of out of state revenue. The real reasons tolls are popular is that it allows government to create a tax they don't have to call a tax.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by JGBigGreen

You keep saying you’ve noted before that gas tax revenue has been flat. I may have missed where you posted the data to support that claim. What are you basing it on? I’ve seen a study that purports that, adjusted for inflation, revenue is up 20% since 2000. I’ll find the report and post later.

If you looked at this recent study done by the Office of Legislative Research, you will see what I am talking about. It shows that in 2013 the gas tax and the Gross Receipts Tax generated about $859 million. In 2017 they generated just $723 milion. Given that the economy of our state improved over that period, this is disturbing. This is why Governor Malloy and the Legislature acted so quickly to bolster the Transportation Fund so it would not run out of money. Jay

https://www.cga.ct.gov/2018/rpt/pdf/2018-R-0054.pdf

[JGBigGreen]

Very helpful information, thank you for sharing it.

Originally Posted by JayCT

If you looked at this recent study done by the Office of Legislative Research, you will see what I am talking about. It shows that in 2013 the gas tax and the Gross Receipts Tax generated about $859 million. In 2017 they generated just $723 milion. Given that the economy of our state improved over that period, this is disturbing. This is why Governor Malloy and the Legislature acted so quickly to bolster the Transportation Fund so it would not run out of money. Jay

https://www.cga.ct.gov/2018/rpt/pdf/2018-R-0054.pdf

[Reilly1017]

how long would it take to implement the infrastructure for tolls once approved?

Let’s say tomorrow all votes yes, logistics of where and amounts approved - how long to build it all out and have it be effective?

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Reilly1017

how long would it take to implement the infrastructure for tolls once approved?

Let’s say tomorrow all votes yes, logistics of where and amounts approved - how long to build it all out and have it be effective?

Remember this is a long term solution to the transportation funding problem. The Transportation Fund is a large pool of money that the state draws upon for our transportation needs. That fund maintains a balance that could support those needs for a certain length of time. When it became apparent there were going to be issues with the fund in the future because of flat or decreasing revenue, Governor Malloy and the Legislature moved to shore it up by increaing the Gross Receipts Tax and directly a portion of the sales tax into it. This was a temporary fix that helped sustain the fund for several more years but it was not meant to be a permanent solution. Tolls would be that permanent solution.

It will take several years to design, build and begin operation of tolls in our state but once a plan is approved, the state can begin to draw upon more money from the Transportation Fund knowing it will be replenished once tolls are operational. The state could also begin bonding for major improvements by dedicating a portion of the toll revenue toward paying that debt off. Jay

[SAE72]

" Long Term Solutions". How many times have we been told that ? Weicker signed it , and the Democrats piled on .



With the stroke of then-Gov. Lowell Weicker Jr.'s pen on a late summer evening in 1991, Connecticut became the 41st state to impose an income tax on its inhabitants , with no other state having approved an income tax since. Over the quarter century that followed, Connecticut has demonstrated the pitfalls of imposing an income tax and served as a cautionary tale for other states.

In 1991, Gov. Weicker signed into law a flat 4.5 percent income tax. In the ensuing 25 years, the rate has been raised a number of times and a progressive rate structure installed. Today, Connecticut has seven income tax brackets with a top rate of 6.99 percent, a 55 percent increase from the original rate enacted a quarter century ago.

The institution of Connecticut’s income tax was followed by a marked uptick in the size of state government. From 1991 to 2014, state government spending in Connecticut grew 71 percent faster than the rate of inflation, while population only grew by 9 percent during that same period.
The size of Connecticut government, using state spending as a percentage of GDP as the metric, is more than 32% larger today than it was the year the income tax was put in place. When the income tax took effect in 1992, state spending in Connecticut as a percentage of state GDP was 8.9 percent. In 2015, state spending was 11.8 percent of GDP.

Connecticut is less important to the U.S. economy today than it was before state lawmakers enacted an income tax. The share of national GDP accounted for by Connecticut’s economy has declined by more than 17 percent since 1992

Since the imposition of the state income tax, Connecticut government has only gotten bigger and the overall tax burden has gone up. Current state officials have been doing their part to make matters worse.

During his first year in office in 2011, Gov. Dannel Malloy (D) approved the largest tax hike in state history, signing into law a budget that included two dozen separate tax hikes totaling $1.9 billion in higher taxes. Malloy followed up on that with another round of tax hikes in 2015, despite the fact that he promised on the 2014 campaign trail that he would not raise taxes again if voters reelected him.


Source: Forbes

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by JayCT

If you looked at this recent study done by the Office of Legislative Research, you will see what I am talking about. It shows that in 2013 the gas tax and the Gross Receipts Tax generated about $859 million. In 2017 they generated just $723 milion. Given that the economy of our state improved over that period, this is disturbing. This is why Governor Malloy and the Legislature acted so quickly to bolster the Transportation Fund so it would not run out of money. Jay

https://www.cga.ct.gov/2018/rpt/pdf/2018-R-0054.pdf

Yeah, but that's due to the overall fuel efficiency improvements in the automobile fleet. It's not like fuel buying patterns for out-of-state drivers have changed since 2013. Anyone driving through Connecticut is going to buy fuel in the cheapest place. That wasn't Connecticut in 2013 and it's not Connecticut today.


The Federal fuel tax shared among the states has the exact same problem. Clearly, funding roads via some kind of use based mechanism (tolls) is the best candidate to solve the problem. As I've written a number of times, for state residents, the state knows your toll transponder, your residence, your place of work, and has your state income tax return. It's no big deal to adopt some kind of means-tested tolling that takes into account congestion, car pooling, and the need to get to work. Somebody has to pay the bills. With tolls, you nail all out of state drivers 100%. You can then work out the best public policy for tolling residents. Personally, I'd bias it towards making car pools toll-free in congested areas and making sure lower income people can get to work without getting crushed by toll fees.

[MrGompers]

Another thing to tax Connecticut families isn't sitting well with some pet owners.The bill would make people register their pet cats.



https://www.wfsb.com/news/hearing-to...c9bed718f.html

Too funny, my cat doesn't even have a job. How is she going to pay this ? Back to the coal mines for her I guess.

[seanhenry]

Gonna be a lot more stray cats in this state