Miller Eyes Parking Lot Tax

[billonlogan]

If you don't want to pay the tax, don't drive your Ford Excessive downtown. Simple as that. Or move to Calgary.

Jeez! I thought this was a free country. Who has the right to tell people what vehicle they can ride and where they can go. We can debate this matter on its merits, but please, keep your snarky comments to yourself or stay out of this discussion.

 

[Bogtrotter]

Yeh- I would agree that there should be some parking incentives for those who drive small vehicles (motorcycles, smart cars) or other more enviromentally friendly vehicles. Some suburbanites whodrive monster cars may be more inclined to buy a compact car to use for city commutes and keep their spaceship in their garage for the longer hauls.

But I think Alklay is right. I think the effect on transit use would be marginal. We need better transit- particularly better train coverage- a more modern, sleek, clean and efficient system would help immensly. Err- TTC staff that actually give a damn would also help.

 

[maxy505]

There already is a progressive tax on emissions: the gas tax. The more gas you use, the more tax you pay. If you really want to tax gas usage isn't it smarter to increase the gas tax, than to add parking-lot tax and emissions tax and vehicle-size tax and live-downtown rebate and...

I think the way taxes are haphazardly assigned bothers me more than the actual amount I have to pay.

 

[SD2]

I think the only way I'd be okay with this is if it went directly to subsidizing the cost of a Metropass. I think that would definitely improve ridership.

 

[bizorky]

The federal government has a huge surplus, and we worry about taxing parking lots. Maybe it's time for the government to invest in public infrastructure with some of the money they already have.

 

[Brighter Hell]

Jeez! I thought this was a free country. Who has the right to tell people what vehicle they can ride and where they can go. We can debate this matter on its merits, but please, keep your snarky comments to yourself or stay out of this discussion.

Nobody said anything about taking away freedoms or banning vehicles. How do you get that idea from indexing parking charges by the size and efficiency of the vehicle?

Not in the government's eyes. Plus, there are those on the left that feel the middle class and upper class should be taxed aggressively so that their net incomes match those of lower income earners. If I make $100K, I should be taxed down to $25 - $30K net income, which will stop me from buying the SUV and other luxuries...or so the logic goes.

You make up some pretty good stories. Do you do non-fiction too?

 

[scarberiankhatru]

Any guesses as to how much would the average driver actually pay in these new taxes over the course of a year?

 

[Irishmunk]

"There are those on the left who..."

Typical straw-man debating tactic that is so frequently employed by those on the right. (ooops.)

 

[Abeja de Almirante]

Not in the government's eyes. Plus, there are those on the left that feel the middle class and upper class should be taxed aggressively so that their net incomes match those of lower income earners. If I make $100K, I should be taxed down to $25 - $30K net income, which will stop me from buying the SUV and other luxuries...or so the logic goes.

You make up some pretty good stories. Do you do non-fiction too?

I only wish it was fiction, but as I said above, there ARE those on the left that call for a maximum permitted income, with progressive taxes to push those who would make more down toward the max level, for example...

American Socialist Party sp-usa.org/
"We call for a steeply graduated income tax and a steeply graduated estate tax, and a maximum income of no more than ten times the minimum."

Syracuse Green Party www.greens.org/s-r/09/09-18.html
"The Green Program calls for a "Maximum Income" of ten times the minimum wage, incorporated into a progressive federal income tax. With this "Ten Times Rule" in effect under today's extremely unequal distribution of income in the US, a 100% tax on income above ten times the minimum wage would allow income tax reductions for the bottom 99% and yet generate enough revenues to balance the federal budget without cutting spending. A progressive tax system should not only provide a guaranteed minimum income, but also a maximum cap on income."

CCF (former name of NDP) Regina Manifesto en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regina_Manifesto "The primary goal of the "Regina Manifesto" was to eradicate the system of capitalism and replace it with a completely planned economy of socialism...It called for a National Labour Code "to secure for the worker maximum income....".

I wish this was fiction. Of course we can also find equally crazy examples of far right views, but my point remains that there are those on the left that call for maximum incomes, with taxation to acheive this.

 

[Darkstar416]

Funny, how Miller didn't make any splash about this during the election, was he afraid of the drivers who would pay this new charge? We need some real leadership in this city, Miller should stop eyeing, he should be taking strong positions and running with it.

He actually mentioned it many times during the campaign. When pressed about tolls, he'd say "I've thought about it for 3 years and I don't think it's right for Toronto now." When pressed further where he'd get more fuding he'd often say "a parking surcharge is a real possibility."

 

[Brighter Hell]

I only wish it was fiction, but as I said above, there ARE those on the left that call for a maximum permitted income, with progressive taxes to push those who would make more down toward the max level, for example...

Well then like Irishmunk was saying, it's a meaningless straw man tactic that has nothing to do with the topic.

 

[building babel]

A strange idea, really, to introduce a new tax on parking ( which doesn't create pollution ) but not on driving ( which does ).

 

[FutureMayor]

Again he said it was "possibility", not that he was actually going to do it if he was going to get elected.

Of all the campaign materials I read from him, nowhere did it mention a downtown parking tax.

That's my problem with Miller up to this point, he lacks the bold strategic leadership style needed for Canada's largest city.

He ran too safe campaign and if there was a real challenger like a John Tory in this election he could have been tossed out for his lack of vision and action.

Louroz

 

[Abeja de Almirante]

Well then like Irishmunk was saying, it's a meaningless straw man tactic that has nothing to do with the topic

I was just replying to the comment that we're taxed enough - in that there are those on the left that disagree. That's all...okay, we can drop that and get back on Parking Lot taxes.

 

[adma]

Wow, sounds like a radical anti-auto gambit. Parking Lot Tacks. Give all those SUV-commuting heathens flat tires; that'll teach'em...