As Nov. 5 approaches, local residents must decide whether they’ll pony up a half-cent per dollar.
Q. What would you say if your cabdriver asked how you will vote on the Nov. 5 sales tax referendum? Connection readers shared their thoughts:
Chris Monek:
“Good morning, Joe. Can you get me to the airport on time? What am I doing on the sales-tax vote? I’m going to do it!
“I’m going to hold my nose, tighten my belt, turn my head so my eyes don’t have to watch my hand. I’m going to vote ‘yes’ on the referendum.
“Yup. One-half penny for transportation. Gonna do it. Joe, McLean is at the crossroads in more ways than one. I know we’re already taxed enough, especially the real estate property tax, but the ‘powers that be’ (read ‘politicians’) leave us no choice. If we vote no, nothing happens, things get worse. We never get to work, to school, the airport or ahead of the curve.
“I’ll tell you this much, Joe. If we increase the tax and nothing happens, you’ll feel the backlash from here to Richmond and back again.
“Watch out for that back-up.”
Charlie Brown:
Seven days after Thomas Jefferson became ex-president, he took the Georgetown ferry and made 10 miles to Richard Fitzhugh’s house in Fairfax County. Roads were atrocious. Baggage by water, valuables lost. Four days to Monticello. A century later notables derided newfangled autos; “a horse can obey commands.”
Proposed traffic lights in New York City? “Public won’t use ‘em.”
Our times require modern means of transportation — all kinds. No free rides.
Antique cars are entertaining; for all practical uses, give me well-designed highways. I vote “Yes” on referendum.
Martin Smith:
Vote NO. Build it, and they will come. Build roads, and more cars will come. Is that the goal?
Carole L. Herrick
Vote Yes.
The proposed Northern Virginia tax referendum is not designed as a cure for our transportation needs. It will create a dedicated stream of revenue to fund existing transit and road improvement projects already “on the books” that will substantially help towards alleviating area traffic congestion. The sales tax money will add to our present share of state revenue that cannot be reduced by law. Its disbursement will be controlled by the new Northern Virginia Transportation Authority. Passage will be a plus for Fairfax County. I applaud the 40 percent allocation for mass transportation.
Joanne E. Theon
Vote no on the sales tax. Higher taxes mean less buying power and less freedom. The average family with two incomes is paying 39 percent of their income in taxes.
Enough is enough. Roads are not needed. Move people, not cars.
Government should waste not, want not. There is no guarantee that money will not be diverted as it was following the ‘86 half-cent transportation tax. We don’t need to be taxed twice.
Tom Brock
My main interest is the need for funding for Fairfax County Public Schools, which have 3,000 more students each year. Last year, the budget had to be cut because of the lack of money. This year, there will be even greater budget cuts.
When the General Assembly authorized the sales-tax referendum, however, the rest of the state limited our use of the funds to transportation. The rest of the state does not recognize the needs of our area.
Still I will vote for the referendum. Perhaps, if we accept the responsibility to build our own roads, Richmond will give us the discretion to build our own schools.
John Foust
Vote "Yes."
On Oct. 2, the Board of Directors of the McLean Citizens Association adopted a resolution that strongly supports the referendum and urges residents of the McLean area to vote “Yes.”
After many months of analysis, meetings and debates, the MCA concluded that McLean residents will directly benefit from the Dulles Rail Project and other transportation improvements that will be funded by the increased sales tax, including improvements to the Beltway, Interstate 66, Route 7 and Route 123.