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davis_squareDear fellow car drivers friends and neighbors,
The City is counting on you to park longer than 48 hours in one place, to not remember which day is street cleaning on your side, and to forget to give your out-of-town friends and relatives visitor passes instantly when they arrive at your place. I know what you're thinking, that the City wants its residents, workers, and visitors to abide by the laws, not break them.
Alas, the FY2010 municipal budget (pdf) has already been written with the expectation of approx $8.7 million from parking fines (up $1.5 million from last year) plus change in surcharges, towing fees, and moving violations. So, unless you want the city to face cut-backs in police, fire, and education, you'd better start parking within 20 feet of an intersection and leaving your car on the street during your week-long vacation. The City has even adjusted its parking policies to help facilitate this new revenue increase.
But seriously, if the City is going to rely on this regressive form of taxation, shouldn't we at least expect the burden to fall somewhat equitably around the city? And how does Somerville compare to surrounding communities in terms of its parking enforcement policies? If you'd like to help us find out the answers to these and other parking related questions, then please consider pledging what you can to our new $500 fund-raiser to hire an investigative journalist. To join our campaign or leave a comment, please head on over to the Somerville Voices blog and thanks!
Sincerely,
Barry Rafkind
The City is counting on you to park longer than 48 hours in one place, to not remember which day is street cleaning on your side, and to forget to give your out-of-town friends and relatives visitor passes instantly when they arrive at your place. I know what you're thinking, that the City wants its residents, workers, and visitors to abide by the laws, not break them.
Alas, the FY2010 municipal budget (pdf) has already been written with the expectation of approx $8.7 million from parking fines (up $1.5 million from last year) plus change in surcharges, towing fees, and moving violations. So, unless you want the city to face cut-backs in police, fire, and education, you'd better start parking within 20 feet of an intersection and leaving your car on the street during your week-long vacation. The City has even adjusted its parking policies to help facilitate this new revenue increase.
But seriously, if the City is going to rely on this regressive form of taxation, shouldn't we at least expect the burden to fall somewhat equitably around the city? And how does Somerville compare to surrounding communities in terms of its parking enforcement policies? If you'd like to help us find out the answers to these and other parking related questions, then please consider pledging what you can to our new $500 fund-raiser to hire an investigative journalist. To join our campaign or leave a comment, please head on over to the Somerville Voices blog and thanks!
Sincerely,
Barry Rafkind
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Re: Perhaps the OP means that...
Date: 2009-08-27 03:42 am (UTC)Any idea where we might find the type of data (income distribution of MA drivers) you're asking for? How much would you be willing to contribute to such a survey?
Sales tax can also be avoided, but that doesn't make it not a tax.
Re: Perhaps the OP means that...
Date: 2009-08-27 12:29 pm (UTC)And don't say something unrealistic like "live completely self-sufficiently", because that's silly as opposed to not getting parking tickets, which is pretty damn easy.
Re: Perhaps the OP means that...
Date: 2009-08-27 12:38 pm (UTC)You could also avoid income taxes if your income is below the threshold.
You could avoid the gas tax if you don't have a need to buy gas.
You could avoid the cigarette tax by not purchasing cigarettes.
So, still think that taxes must be unavoidable? The reality is that even if we personally do not pay the tax, others do, and that factors in to the prices we pay for goods and services.