Article from Fox News by Brooke Singman.
New Jersey residents could soon be hit with what Republicans are calling a “rain tax,” if Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy signs newly passed legislation.
The bill, approved by the New Jersey Assembly and the Senate, would allow municipalities to create utilities that can collect fees from homeowners and business owners that have large paved surfaces, like driveways and parking lots. During storms, rainwater mixes with pollutants on those surfaces before running into sewers and drains. The funding from the fees could be used for upgrades to reduce the impact on the environment.
“With all the salt that we’ve had on roads recently, that’s all running into the sewer systems, so you can’t ignore the problems because they don’t go away,” Senate President Steve Sweeney told CBS New York.
State Sen. Richard Codey called the legislation necessary, telling CBS New York that the state’s economy is based on the shore.
Read the entire article at Fox News.
Image Credit: By Cellofellow (Gadsden_flag.svg) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons
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This is ridiculous!! Pretty soon they will be taxing the air we breathe!!
California is going to tax water that you still have to buy
California should break off and sink into the Pacific. According to geologists, it is imminent!
New Jersey isn’t in California.
That is not too far off.
You do of course realize that THAT IS & always has been the Holy Grail for Demon-rats, right ?
They already are taxing the air you breathe. Thats one thing government does accurately is TAX, TAX, and then TAX some more. They are proficient at doing it. I realize there are some things we need to be taxed for, BUT they dream up stupid other reasons. Damn them.
Wisconsin municipalities have been collecting a “storm water tax” for a long time. Maryland initiated a “rain tax” on landowners whose runoff ultimately reached the Chesapeake Bay – most of the State, in other words.
Move south; down here, we are still relatively free.
You get what you vote for.
Then shouldn’t the tax the salt the government puts on the roads? Would seem more fair than making business owners pay for runoff desalinization. Soon all the independent businesses will have to close. Was this legislation lobbied by Amazon?
I am sure they helped it along.
Stop blacktopping the roads, go gravel maybe a horse and buggy next. Traffic accidents would be interesting.
I live about a mile up a Holler on a gravel road. Trust me, it’s not the way to go !!! Right now, it looks like the Air Force has been using it to practice for Air Strikes & nothing can be done about it until Spring. Then, we’ll need about 5 days without rain & temps in (at least) the lower 70’s. You have to understand that 5 days without rain & lower 70’s in West Virginia in the Spring ain’t easy to come by. Alignments & new tires are almost a yearly expense as well. I really wish they’d pave our road, but the potholes wouldn’t be much better than the gravel road we have now…………
Boy guys in NJ must be talking to the City of Fall River, MA. That city has had a rain tax for years. What a sham. None of my property has any run off water because my land slopes from the street down to my back yard and into a neighbors rear yard yet I get a bill. They charge you for run off water based on the square footage of you improved property. They have a Stop & Shop there that pays $16K annually for their run off water. Next they will tax our carbon dioxide from breathing. This country is done.
It has been done since Vietnam.
Shut down Sanctuary cities and save tons of water, that goes to illegals, they got over paid Scientist that can look at sewer plants and fix the problem or have Democrat Governor and Senators out collecting rain water before it hits the ground, problem solved.
Conservatives lose credibility when they go on rants against a tax that frankly appears logical. Making someone “up stream” responsible for the pollution the;y put into the water is a well established legal principal.
Dale Casto: COMMUNIST IDIOT!!!!!!!!!
If you come south, as far as Charlotte, you will discover they already ‘tax rain’ with their ‘storm water’ tax!
WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR COUNTRY IS THERE SOMETHING IN THE AIR THAT ONLY HITS THE POLITICHINS THEY ARE INSANE EXCEPT FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP AND MOST OF THE REPUBLICANS THEY WANT TO BABIES AND NOW THEY WANT TO TAX WATER AND RAIN
Peoria, Illinois already taxes us for storm-water runoff, based on the amount of surface on our property that produces runoff, such as parking lots and roofs.
Reminds me of a Reagan quote explaining how government ‘works’: “If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”
The property owners didn’t send the rain, so TAX the One who did.
IF you can get Him to pay. Of course He just might require a payment from you…
What a bunch of loosers!
Dropping out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership was a bad move.