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Oregon Passes First Statewide Bicycle Tax In Nation (washingtontimes.com)
turkeydance writes: In Oregon, a state known for its avid bicycling culture, the state legislature's approval of the first bike tax in the nation has fallen flat with riders. Democratic Gov. Kate Brown is expected to sign the sweeping $5.3 billion transportation package, which includes a $15 excise tax on the sale of bicycles costing more than $200 with a wheel diameter of at least 26 inches. Even though the funding has been earmarked for improvements that will benefit cyclists, the tax has managed to irk both anti-tax Republicans and environmentally conscious bikers. The bike tax is aimed at raising $1.2 million per year in order to improve and expand paths and trails for bicyclists and pedestrians. Supporters point out that Oregon has no sales tax, which means buyers won't be dinged twice for their new wheels.
When I buy gasoline for my car, I pay a tax which is used for the construction and upkeep of roads. I also pay a fee when I register my vehicle each year which goes to the same purpose.
Congratulations! Your government is actually allocating funds properly. But that is really unusual. The rest of us pay these fees, which go into the general fund, where the politicians use the money for whatever the hell they want. Your observation may be useful information for your area, but it is not relevant for the rest of us.
A dingo ate my sig...
Why only $200 bikes with 26" wheels? Why a one-time sales tax?
Why not just a bicycle license which is needed to ride on these bike paths, renewed annually?
Hell, we had bike licenses when I was growing up (won't say how long ago), people pay fees to use state parks, and many states have licenses for Off Road Vehicles to support their trails.
Then, it's a choice - don't ride on the (fee funded) paths, don't buy a license.
(But yeah, it pisses me off that bicyclists demand access to gasoline tax funded roadways, expect drivers to given them equal right of way, but then feel free to obey or ignore traffic laws as they see fit. I very commonly see cyclists jumping between street and sidewalk, rolling through stop(signs/lights) and cutting ahead of vehicle traffic on the shoulder. Fuck those guys - they want to have their cake, and eat it, too.)
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
I can't quite decide whether these comments are serious or some kind of sophisticated sarcasm. Actually, knowing Americans, you are probably serious, but it strikes me as comical in a bizarre kind of way, the amount of passion this invokes and the length people will apparently go to in order to thwart the government, even over the smallest of things.
So, the people that get up in arms over a $15 tax are those that are willing to spend >$200 on a bicycle? If they are anything like what I see - and laugh at - in UK, they are also the ones that pay dearly, so they can look silly in brightly coloured spandex clothing, who buy expensive designer water bottles and other fashion accessories as well as "performance enhancing" energy drinks and -powders. These people feel sorely hurt over having to pay a one-off tax amounting to $15?
... people would queue up to spend $5 to make sure the government didn't get any income.
On the other hand, the same people see nothing wrong in paying far over the odds for accessories that have cost very little to manufacture - probably in China or India - thus feeding both the big businesses that seem to pull the string of government behind the scenes, and the governments of foreign powers. As I see it, this is little more than dumb spite.