Mr. Guernsey's Trucks
David Guernsey, a local Fairfax County businessman who sells envelopes and other office products around the region, is angry because the Virginia General Assembly did not agree to raise taxes for transportation. Apparently, the traffic congestion is causing problems for him and his colleagues. Mr. Guernsey complains, for example, that he was forced to build a second distribution center in Beltsville, MD to service customers. He keeps his delivery trucks on both sides of the Potomac now.
He also complains that it's become more difficult to make deliveries or to have deliveries made to his operations in Chantilly. Finally, Mr. Guernsey bemoans the fact that many businesses are having a hard time persuading people to move here. The quality of life seems to be deteriorating. His solution -- raise taxes on you, me and the gal behind the tree. He's also planning to give campaign contributions to people who will raise those taxes.
Well Mr. Guernsey, there are many other factors that you seem to ignore. One obvious tool to address congestion that our neighbors in Maryland use is to authorize local governments to adopt adequate public facilities ordinances. Those laws defer growth where the roads, schools, parks, libraries, sewers, etc., are insufficient to handle the added growth. Perhaps, had those laws been in effect in Virginia, we wouldn't have as bad of traffic jams as we do. Or, as often occurs with APFOs, the developers and builders construct, or pay for the construction of, the necessary public facilities. Either way, things would be better in Virginia without raising taxes.
I've never met Mr. Guernsey, but I'll bet you that he would likely respond by arguing that APFO hurt economic growth. They stop necessary development. But I'd retort that he just built a distribution center in Maryland -- a place with APFO. He built because he needed to serve a market and felt he could do so profitably even with the added costs. By imposing an APFO, Maryland likely received contributions towards public infrastructure from Mr. Guernsey's company or from his landlord and it also obtained new jobs that were in Virginia. Sounds like a winner for Maryland residents and it did not require a tax increase.
Mr. Guernsey also ignores various traffic management tools that could be used. For example, we could reduce traffic congestion measurably by getting trucks off the road during prime commuting time. Virginia could, for example, adopt congestion pricing for trucks using interstate highways and primary roads during rush hours. Companies like Mr. Guernsey's could then either pay extra fees to drive these roads during rush hours or move deliveries to before or after commuting time. Perhaps, he could discount his prices for early or late deliveries. I'm sure that, if his company could not adapt to this change, others, such as Staples, Office Depot or WalMart, would find a way to adjust prices and make a profit. The use of congestion pricing would help improve traffic flow and it wouldn't require a tax increase.
What I really found absurd about Mr. Guernsey's remarks was his complaint that people should pay higher taxes because Mr. Guernsey and other business operators are having trouble recruiting people to work in this area. If you are having trouble hiring good people, you need to pay them more or start moving operations to a less-expensive area. A very strong economic case can be made that we would be better off if more good-paying jobs were located in places such as Fredericksburg, Warrenton, Culpeper, etc. We'd have less congestion on our roads and many workers' commuting times would be reduced. I suspect, however, that Mr. Guernsey might sell fewer envelopes and copiers if more jobs were located outside this area. But it's hardly a reason for us to pay higher taxes to help Mr. Guernsey's business.
I could go on and on. He failed to address VDOT's lack of cost controls, the fact that we fund roads based on who can best lobby the CTB, Fairfax County fails to negotiate and collect sufficient cash proffers for roads, we are spending more than $4 billion to build the Silver Line that does not reduce traffic congestion. The bottom line is that many things could be done that would make traffic improvements but that do not require a tax increase. Let's do them first.
He also complains that it's become more difficult to make deliveries or to have deliveries made to his operations in Chantilly. Finally, Mr. Guernsey bemoans the fact that many businesses are having a hard time persuading people to move here. The quality of life seems to be deteriorating. His solution -- raise taxes on you, me and the gal behind the tree. He's also planning to give campaign contributions to people who will raise those taxes.
Well Mr. Guernsey, there are many other factors that you seem to ignore. One obvious tool to address congestion that our neighbors in Maryland use is to authorize local governments to adopt adequate public facilities ordinances. Those laws defer growth where the roads, schools, parks, libraries, sewers, etc., are insufficient to handle the added growth. Perhaps, had those laws been in effect in Virginia, we wouldn't have as bad of traffic jams as we do. Or, as often occurs with APFOs, the developers and builders construct, or pay for the construction of, the necessary public facilities. Either way, things would be better in Virginia without raising taxes.
I've never met Mr. Guernsey, but I'll bet you that he would likely respond by arguing that APFO hurt economic growth. They stop necessary development. But I'd retort that he just built a distribution center in Maryland -- a place with APFO. He built because he needed to serve a market and felt he could do so profitably even with the added costs. By imposing an APFO, Maryland likely received contributions towards public infrastructure from Mr. Guernsey's company or from his landlord and it also obtained new jobs that were in Virginia. Sounds like a winner for Maryland residents and it did not require a tax increase.
Mr. Guernsey also ignores various traffic management tools that could be used. For example, we could reduce traffic congestion measurably by getting trucks off the road during prime commuting time. Virginia could, for example, adopt congestion pricing for trucks using interstate highways and primary roads during rush hours. Companies like Mr. Guernsey's could then either pay extra fees to drive these roads during rush hours or move deliveries to before or after commuting time. Perhaps, he could discount his prices for early or late deliveries. I'm sure that, if his company could not adapt to this change, others, such as Staples, Office Depot or WalMart, would find a way to adjust prices and make a profit. The use of congestion pricing would help improve traffic flow and it wouldn't require a tax increase.
What I really found absurd about Mr. Guernsey's remarks was his complaint that people should pay higher taxes because Mr. Guernsey and other business operators are having trouble recruiting people to work in this area. If you are having trouble hiring good people, you need to pay them more or start moving operations to a less-expensive area. A very strong economic case can be made that we would be better off if more good-paying jobs were located in places such as Fredericksburg, Warrenton, Culpeper, etc. We'd have less congestion on our roads and many workers' commuting times would be reduced. I suspect, however, that Mr. Guernsey might sell fewer envelopes and copiers if more jobs were located outside this area. But it's hardly a reason for us to pay higher taxes to help Mr. Guernsey's business.
I could go on and on. He failed to address VDOT's lack of cost controls, the fact that we fund roads based on who can best lobby the CTB, Fairfax County fails to negotiate and collect sufficient cash proffers for roads, we are spending more than $4 billion to build the Silver Line that does not reduce traffic congestion. The bottom line is that many things could be done that would make traffic improvements but that do not require a tax increase. Let's do them first.
posted by Toomanytaxes at 2:56 PM
1 Comments:
This summation is so well put I really have nothing to add. I only wish more people would be tuned into what is going on.
Sadly, between the busy lives of the average citizen and the hidden nature of the planning process Fairfax County residents usually don't realize what development is happening to them until it is too late.
It is really quite difficult if you are not an insider to find out what development is planned for particular locations in Fairfax County. And quite frankly, the BOS doesn't really seem to care what the people who live in the affected communities actually think.
Why is it that the people most directly affected by these sorts of things in Fairfax County never have any say in the matter? The current tactic seems to be that unknown bureaucrats make decisions, promote them to the public, give the public the opportunity to complain, express sympathy for the aggrieved and then proceed with implementation.
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