Eighteen months after the Greater Victoria Transit Commission asked the province to boost city gas taxes, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is revving up in protest.
The requested increase of two cents a litres for transit improvements would add $6.5 million to transit coffers, commission chairwoman Susan Brice said.
“And we could really put that to good use,” she said, adding it would put more buses on the road, with more frequent and reliable trips to entice as many people onto transit as possible. That would cut road congestion from single-occupant vehicles along with greenhouse gases, Brice said.
The proposed gas tax increase would make capital region drivers pay the third-highest gas taxes in North America, said Jordan Bateman, B.C. director of the taxpayers federation.
During its recent Gas Tax Honesty Day, the federation spelled out how much motorists already spend on taxes at the pumps and questioned how the money is spent. Fuel taxes should be directed to roads and road-related infrastructure and maintenance or to reduce taxes, the federation said in a 53-page report.
Brice said that, after the transit fare increase in April 2013, service expansion requires funding beyond higher fares and property taxes.
“Where, when and how is the public being consulted regarding this?” asked Victoria resident Mark Cosgrove in a letter to the commission. “We already pay enough gas tax. Why another tax? How is that justified?”
Brice said in response that the public surveys have “consistently shown fuel tax to be preferred to increases in property taxes.” And she noted that the Victoria system consistently carries more passengers for its funding than similar systems across Canada.
The last gas tax increase approved in B.C. — one cent a litre across the province — occurred in 2008, she said.
While the proposed increase is supported by Capital Regional District and the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce, B.C. Transportation Minister Todd Stone wrote to Brice recently saying the most he can do is pass on the request to the finance minister for consideration in the 2016-17 budget.
Greater Victoria residents pay 41 cents a litre in taxes, compared with 49 cents in Vancouver and 47 cents in Montreal.
The federation’s report noted that, at $1.18 per litre, a 64-litre fill-up in Victoria costs $75.58 — including $25.79 in provincial and federal taxes. That’s 25 cents in B.C. taxes and 16 cents in federal taxes or more than one-third of the per-litre price.
The federation strongly opposes taxes on tax, in the form of GST in B.C. applied to the full pump price. Tax on tax costs $1.5 billion Canada-wide and nearly $6 million in Victoria, its figures show.
Gas revenue in Victoria is $322 million per year — nearly $130 million of which is taxes, including provincial tax at nearly $80 million; federal excise tax at $32 million; federal sales tax at $18 million and tax on tax at nearly $6 million.
“There’s more than enough gas tax already being collected,” Bateman said. And most people would be shocked to learn that taxes come close to the price of unrefined crude in the overall cost at the pump, he added.
Bateman said tax increases should not replace “finding efficiencies or reprioritizing spending to fund transportation improvements.”
Vancouver’s four-cent transit tax has ballooned to 17 cents over the years, he pointed out. “This is a slippery slope Victoria officials are taking taxpayers down.”
Greater Victoria drivers already pay $135.3 million every year in gas taxes.
“Where is that $135 million going every year?” Bateman asked. That needs to be explained before politicians approve more taxes and how they are linked to transportation needs.
Gas tax in B.C.
B.C. has three gas-tax zones:
• The capital region total is 41 cents a litre — 14.5 cents provincial; 10 cents federal; 6.7 cents for B.C. carbon tax; 3.5 cents for transit and 6.5 cents for GST.
• The Lower Mainland total is 49 cents, with 17 cents earmarked for TransLink; 10 cents federal tax; 8.5 cents for B.C. Tax ; 6.7 cents for B.C. carbon tax and 6.5 cents for GST.
• The rest of B.C. pays 37 cents, with 14.5 cents going to the province, 10 cents to Ottawa; 6.7 cents for the B.C. carbon tax and 5.5 cents to GST.
