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posted by martyb on Monday February 11 2019, @04:37AM   Printer-friendly
from the pennies-from-heaven dept.

Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy is poised to sign a "rain tax" bill passed by the state legislature Jan. 31 — and Republicans and lots of taxpayers are howling with rage.

"Every time you think there's nothing left to tax, we come up with something else," Assemblyman Hal Wirths (R-Morris-Sussex) exploded during a debate on the measure.

"It's just never-ending down here."

The law allows each of the state's 565 municipalities to set up its own public stormwater utility. The new bureaucracies will build and manage sewer systems to treat pollutant-filled stormwater runoff.

https://nypost.com/2019/02/09/new-jersey-wants-to-tax-the-rain/


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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by Nuke on Monday February 11 2019, @12:01PM (2 children)

    by Nuke (3162) on Monday February 11 2019, @12:01PM (#799472)

    In the UK the local tax on your house or property includes a component for dealing with rainwater - including maintenance of rivers. It is clearly listed in your annual property tax statement, and no-one much has issues with the principle of it. The bigger the house or business the more tax they pay, although ground area is not a direct factor.

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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by mobydisk on Monday February 11 2019, @02:41PM (1 child)

    by mobydisk (5472) on Monday February 11 2019, @02:41PM (#799514)

    Other US states have passed this same tax and it works similarly to what you describe. It's in your property tax. Each municipality can decide how to calculate the fee: using either a flat rate or a rate based on impermeable surfaces. Some very rural counties use a different calculation for farms, but as I am not a farmer I don't know what it is. It's a really simple straightforward tax that directly measures the thing it is trying to fix - it's really strange that every time it comes up someone labels it a "rain tax" to try and shoot it down. We could play the same game with any tax. Is an income tax a "sweat tax" or is a tax on carbon release a "dirt tax?" Is the sewer tax a "poop tax?" How dare they tax my poop and sweat! Those evil fat cats in Washington hate hate blah!

    • (Score: 2) by Pino P on Monday February 11 2019, @07:36PM

      by Pino P (4721) on Monday February 11 2019, @07:36PM (#799706) Journal

      Then measures like this might be seen as excuses to bend provisions of the several states' constitutions that limit property tax.