Getting in the way
Leave it to Allegheny County to muck up the elegant Flexcar process.
From the Flexcar website:
The Allegheny County Council has enacted a $2 per day Rental Vehicle Tax to help fund mass transit programs. The tax code states that any establishment that rents motor vehicles without a driver for less than a thirty day period must comply with the provisions of the law and charge the new tax to its respective customers.
The Allegheny County Treasurer has informed Flexcar that we must begin to collect the Rental Vehicle Tax from members starting January 1, 2008. You will see this tax reflected on invoices for any January Flexcar charges. The rate of tax assessment shall be $2 per day, or any part of a day, on which a Rental Vehicle is rented within Allegheny County.
Flexcar apologizes for any burden this may cause. Flexcar intends to address the issue by educating Allegheny County on the community benefits of car-sharing and key differences from traditional car rental. We are prepared to work with the County on a differing interpretation of the current law or to achieve a fix that will more specifically exempt car-sharing from the Rental Vehicle Tax.
While I do support these unfortunate taxes as a way to keep the buses rolling, I hope something can be done to lessen the burden for Flexcar users, whose rentals are measured in hours, not days.
I figure that writing the county council and county overlord is a good start.
Comments
I didn't mind much paying the extra $.30 / Yuengling...a tax on libation in the name of public transit is swallowable, if a bit lumpy on the way down.
But as a huge proponent of Flexcar and a member, this is ridiculous. Anyway, Flexcar doesn't rent to me by the hour or day, they rent to me by the year, as I have a "yearly membership" fee of $35, right?
That should get me out of it.
That's one creative way to look at it, but I suspect that since your yearly membership does not preclude you from being charged the hourly rate, it won't fly.
My letter to Onorato got a pretty quick reply from one of his assistants who said "I have taken the liberty of forwarding your message to our law department, as this is an issue that we are looking into further."
I cc'ed Flexcar (info_pittsburgh@flexcar.com) on the note and they also contacted me pretty quickly and thanked me for the assist.
However, I have not heard back from Fitzgerald, my county representative (and council President).
It would be a minor miracle if something positive actually happened here, since an unarguably more progressive city, Seattle, imposed a similar tax and Flexcar lost that fight, at least for now.
Now that Zipcar is taking over, perhaps they can lend some additional weight to the process.
Also, I don't normally make the Trib part of my news stream, but this story caught my eye when I was taking a work break this morning.
Nothing much that's new, but there is a name near the end of the article that I will forward my email to:
No wonder he received few calls -- I couldn't find him on the county's website. However, following the addressing conventions of the county, I believe his email address is Bob.Miecznikowski@alleghenycounty.us. I tried it, and so far, no bounce.
According to the rental tax page, this should work, too.
You support the tax to keep the buses rolling? That being said Jake, will you support a tax on the port authority to keep financially suffering restaurants and bar owners up and running, especially if the restaurant and bar owners pay their workers $85,000.00 to serve drinks? Given your support for the tax, you should have problems with it.
You can't have your cake and eat it too, Jake. You claim to support the tax, and that very tax you just claimed to support falls under car rentals.
Forgive me if I say....."Get over it."
You can thank your Democratically controlled city and county for the tax. ;-)
Ok, you're forgiven.
I don't think that just because I (begrudgingly) support something that I can't wish it to be better. I believe that there's a real inequality in taxing a good that is used on the scale of hours the same as another whose usage is measured in days.
Plus, and I know you'll get all worked up over this, I think giving special consideration to a car-sharing service is a worthwhile endeavor. It wouldn't be too hard to argue that for people who live in the city, car sharing, rather than ownership, is an environmentally responsible choice.
I'm glad this issue is finally getting some attention, and I hope our ugly political machine can rouse itself enough to care.
I ride the buses frequently and I belong to the Flexcar (now Zipcar) program. Mostly because I can't afford the insurance rates, but that's unrelated. It seems that based on how the tax is written, if I use my membership more than once a day, I will have to pay $2.00 each time. That's ridiculous. Nathan is right, roll this into the yearly membership fee. I don't know what Braden is talking about with paying servers $85k.
Jake, so what you're saying is preferential treatment should be given to those who participate in the Flexcar sharing program? I'm not worked up over it, you apparently are, given your "tone."
Matthew, in terms of the 85k comment...I was attempting to say that I think it's asinine for the public to be expected to pay another tax to bail ou the Port Authority all because the Port Authority cannot manage what money they do have. There are many bus drivers on the payroll at the Port Authority who make 85k and more, so that being said...how would the Port Authority feel if their riders were slapped with a tax in order to support suffering restaurant and bar owners who couldn't manage their own money plus paid their employees huge salaries like 85k a year? Sound fair? Well, that's exactly what's taken place TO the customers of the restaurant and bar owners.
Jake, on the other hand, is now upset that this very same tax is reaching into his realm because he participates in the FlexCar program (a good cause, and I support the program fully, sorry to disappoint you Jake), but hey, the FlexCar program must be taxed, just like any car rental service in the county. It falls under car rental, therefore, it must be taxed. I just find it interesting that Jake and others who use the FlexCar program now want an "exception" to be made because they find the tax not convenient to them to pay all of the sudden.
To which I again say, "Get over it." If you don't like it, then don't participate.
Not to beat a dead horse here, but I think you're still missing my point, or at least being more stubborn than is necessary.
Eliminating the tax is not my goal. The rightness of that can be discussed elsewhere. Adjusting it to better suit the hourly nature of Zipcar rentals is what interests me. Something like 8.3 cents/hour for the first day, then a flat $2/day after that. No special breaks have to be given to anyone. Just an equitable levy that better corresponds to the time used.
"Adjusting it to better suit the hourly nature of Zipcar rentals is what interests me. Something like 8.3 cents/hour for the first day, then a flat $2/day after that."
Excuse me, but how does that not constitute a break?
So, you claim you have no problem with the tax, but yet it now inconveniences you, and you wish to "adjust" it.
Fascinating.