California officials to unveil huge transportation deal, new fees
California drivers would face higher prices at the pump and new vehicle registration fees under a $52 billion plan announced Wednesday by Gov. Jerry Brown and California legislative leaders to repair the state’s aging roads and bridges and improve public transportation.
Saying the deal isn’t perfect but long overdue, Brown insisted that California cannot keep ignoring its transportation infrastructure or continue borrowing money to fix it.
Some more:
The deal was more than two years in the making and could be voted on by the Legislature as soon as next week. It would raise $5.2 billion a year for 10 years by increasing the vehicle registration fee by $25 to $175 depending on the value of the vehicle, hiking gas and diesel taxes, and creating a fee on zero-emission vehicles.
The sales tax on gas wouldn’t change, but the excise tax on distributors — a cost passed down to drivers — would rise. Under the deal, the state’s gas excise tax, which is currently 18 cents, would increase by 12 cents per gallon to 30 cents.
Additionally, the excise tax on diesel fuel, used by the commercial trucking industry, would increase by 20 cents a gallon to 36 cents. The diesel sales tax also would rise to 5.75 percent from the current 1.75 percent.
Electric and hybrid-vehicle drivers, meanwhile, would pay a new $100-per-year fee beginning in 2020.
So in other words, Governor Brown is adding incentive for businesses to move from California to more tax-friendly states. And no word about defunding his precious little choo-choo train:
California's bullet train is hurtling toward a multibillion-dollar overrun, a confidential federal report warns
California’s bullet train could cost taxpayers 50% more than estimated — as much as $3.6 billion more. And that’s just for the first 118 miles through the Central Valley, which was supposed to be the easiest part of the route between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
A confidential Federal Railroad Administration risk analysis, obtained by The Times, projects that building bridges, viaducts, trenches and track from Merced to Shafter, just north of Bakersfield, could cost $9.5 billion to $10 billion, compared with the original budget of $6.4 billion.
Time to check the U-Haul index again:
Yup - exactly twice as expensive. There are so many more U-Haul trucks departing California than arriving, the market makes the rental that much more valuable - plus, they have to keep shuttling the trucks back for more people to rent.
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