The Tea Party apparently has some surprising new members! The Environmental Protection Agency is leading a tax revolt that pits federal agencies against the local government in Washington, DC. Don’t try this at home.
EPA and other federal agencies in the Nation’s Capital, including the Defense Department, have refused to pay new property taxes assessed to help fund a major stormwater cleanup effort.
The tax fight was started after EPA forced the District of Columbia to adopt tough stormwater control measures to clean up the Anacostia River, which is inundated with trash and other runoff pollutants.
To pay for this EPA-mandated stormwater program, the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority revised its fee structure to charge landowners stormwater fees based on the square footage of property, instead of assessing fees based on the number of people using a property.
As reported in the Washington Examiner, this sparked the federal agency’s anti-tax fervor, because the change turned the per-person fee structure into a property tax, and federal agencies are exempt from paying property taxes.
The Pentagon has refused to pay the tax, charging that it’s an “impermissible tax on the federal government.”
April 28, 2010 by Tom Guay
<script language=JavaScript src=”http://rotator.adjuggler.com/servlet/ajrotator/856531/0/vj?z=pbp&dim=328469&kw=&click=&abr=$scriptiniframe”></script><noscript><a href=”http://rotator.adjuggler.com/servlet/ajrotator/856531/0/cc?z=pbp”><img src=”http://rotator.adjuggler.com/servlet/ajrotator/856531/0/vc?z=pbp&dim=328469&kw=&click=&abr=$imginiframe” width=”234″ height=”60″ border=”0″></a></noscript>The Tea Party has some surprising new members! The Environmental Protection Agency is leading a tax revolt that pits federal agencies against the local government in Washington, DC.
EPA and other federal agencies, including the Defense Department, in the Nation’s Capitol have refused to pay new property taxes assessed to help fund a major stormwater cleanup effort.
The tax fight was started after EPA forced the District of Columbia to adopt tougher stormwater control measures to clean up the Anacostia River, which is inundated with trash and other runoff pollutants.
To pay for EPA’s mandated stormwater program, the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority revised its fee structure to charge landowners based on the square footage of property instead of assessing fees based on people using the property. It was this change, inspired by EPA, which was acting under orders from the White House.
As reported in the Washington Examiner, this sparked the federal agency’s anti-tax fervor because the change turned the per-person fee structure into a property tax, and federal agencies are exempt from paying property taxes.
The Pentagon has refused to pay the tax, charging that it’s an “impermissible tax on the federal government.”
