State pulls plug on mileage tax study

Excerpt from CT Post article:

The state has pulled the plug on a controversial plan to spend $300,000 studying how to tax state residents for miles driven on Connecticut roads.

State Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker last week informed eight other Northeastern states participating in the federal study that the state is pulling out.

“I continue to believe this collaborative effort is a great opportunity to learn and gather critical information about a potential future revenue source,” Redeker told the I-95 Coalition, which is overseeing the study.

“Unfortunately, the DOT is now facing budget cuts that prevent us from providing any state matching funds,” Redeker said in a letter.

The study caused an uproar among Republican lawmakers, who complained about spending taxpayer money on a mileage tax residents opposed. That drew a pledge from Democratic majority leaders that no one intended to slap a tax on miles driven, although those leaders refused to end the study.

Read the full article online at the CT Post.