Colorado Democrats are attempting to push through a de-facto tax by increasing car registration fees by $25/year. The money is supposed to be used for road maintenance, but this appears to just be an end run around TABOR.

The real problem with this is it’s a disproportionate tax on all the lower income people in Colorado. A purchaser of a new car pays hundreds of dollars a year in licensing fees. Those of us who can’t afford new cars, and drive something over 10 years old, only pay $25. That means our registration fees are going to increase by 100%. This is also going to be a penalty on all of us who have a second vehicle we use for better gas mileage when we can. Everyone who has a second commuter car or motorcycle is going to get dinged another $25.

Our lawmakers shouldn’t be trying to find creative ways to increase taxes, or increase taxes at all in a weak economy. We need to find a way to live within our means, not make life more difficult for millions of Coloradoans.

Eaton Mayor Keith McIntyre wants to funnel a percentage of sales tax receipts that exceed a businesses average to town parks.

The plan, beside being a little difficult to articulate clearly, does seem like a good one. Residents can support local merchants with the knowledge that some of the sales tax they pay will go directly to improving the town. If the Mayor gets approval from the Eaton Town Board and does a good job of communicating his new plan to Eaton residents, this could be a great move for the city.

MSN has an interesting article on tax rates by State.

Here is Colorado’s listing

State Colorado
Gasoline* 22
Cigarettes $0.84
Retail sales** 2.9
All state, local taxes*** 9.8%
Rank 38

All federal, state, local taxes*** 30.7%
Rank 23

*Additional federal levy is 18.4 cents nationwide
**Base state rate (local tax may be higher)
***Average, as percentage of income

Colorado is right about in the middle ranking 38th on the state level and 23rd on the federal level, thanks in part to things like TABOR that have kept the politicians from raising taxes whenever they see fit.

Keep in mind, next time when there is a ballot issue for a fancy new police station or ridiculously expensive sign that we are all already contributing 9.8 cents out of every dollar to just state taxes. Makes me wish someone would be a little more responsible with our money.