Nov 21, 2008 8:33 pm US/Pacific
CBS 5 Poll: Californians Against Car Tax Hike
SACRAMENTO (CBS 5) ―
Nearly three-quarters of Californians are opposed to a new proposal that would triple California's vehicle licensing fees in order to help offset the state's $28 billion budget gap, according to a
CBS 5 poll released Friday.
State lawmakers estimated that the increased car tax would bring in more than $6 billion a year for state coffers, but it would also cost many motorists hundreds of additional dollars annually.
The
CBS 5 poll of 500 adults, conducted Friday by SurveyUSA, found 74% of Californians opposed the idea, with 17% supporting it and 9% unsure. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 3.9%.
The L.A. Times reported Thursday that many normally anti-tax Republican lawmakers in the legislature had signed off on the proposal in exchange for a ballot measure to impose limits on future state spending.
However, some GOP assembly members balked at that notion on Friday.
"I just think we have to be very very careful about anything that could hurt working people, anything that could hurt the economy," said Assemblyman Mike Villines, the chamber's Republican leader.
Under the plan, the yearly fees would go up from the current .65 percent of the vehicle's value to 2 percent. For example, for a car valued at $25,000, the fee would go to $336.
A spokesman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger indicated the governor, too, was mulling over the legislative proposal.
"We have an $11 billion crisis right now, so I think that all the lawmakers recognize that, they realize that, they understand the urgency, and they're looking at different possibilities, all the different ways we can get out of this crisis," said spokesman Aaron Lear.
Ironically, Schwarzenegger ran against the so-called car tax in 2003 and upon being being elected, he quickly repealed the immensely unpopular tripling of the tax that had occurred at the time.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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