XPost: bc.politics, van.general, vic.general   
   From: Çons@31.5%   
      
   Mar 19, 2012   
      
   Mayors eye vehicle levy, fuel tax to pay for transit   
      
   Metro Vancouver drivers could soon be paying for a new regional carbon tax or   
   vehicle levies   
   based on their size of their vehicle to pay for transit expansion — if a   
   request by the   
   districts mayors is approved.   
      
   Metro Vancouver mayors are requesting the provincial government quickly   
   approve the new fees in   
   order to avoid a short-term property tax increase.   
      
   The proposed vehicle levy would be based on the engine size and emissions   
   ratings for vehicles   
   insured by ICBC within the TransLink service area.   
      
   North Vancouver Mayor Richard Walton, who chairs the mayors' council for   
   regional   
   transportation, says the measures are the only way to pay for the costs in the   
   short term   
   without raising property taxes.   
      
   "Both of those would require fairly simple legislation, and one of the   
   challenges we have is   
   that there is only eight weeks before this session of the legislature is   
   finished, and if there   
   is going to be any legislation introduced, it needs to allow any additional   
   source of funding   
   to be implemented within the next 12 months," he said.   
      
   Transportation Minister Blair Lekstrom said he needed time to review the   
   request, adding it was   
   too early to say if the issue would be dealt with in the current session of   
   the legislature.   
      
   Other options under consideration by the mayors' council include road tolling,   
   giving part of   
   the provincial carbon tax to TransLink.   
      
   Last April, the council introduced a two-cent-per-litre fuel tax to try help   
   cover expansions   
   to TransLink, including the new Evergreen rapid transit line to the Tri-Cities   
   area.   
      
   At that time drivers in Metro Vancouver were already paying a motor fuel tax   
   of 23.5 cents per   
   litre on top of the B.C. carbon tax, which rose to 5.56 cents per litre in   
   July 2011 and will   
   reach 6.67 cents a litre in July 2012.   
      
   The mayors are also asking Lekstrom to authorize a review of TransLink by the   
   provincial   
   auditor general or the new local government auditor general.   
      
      
   *******************************************************   
   "We CAN look after each other better than we do today.   
   We CAN have a fiscally responsible government.   
   We CAN have a strong economy; greater equality; a clean environment.   
   We CAN be a force for peace in the world."                      - Jack Layton   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)