It’s no surprise that State Rep. Paul Luebke (D) would favor raising the automobile registration fee in Durham to help defray the costs of the DATA bus system from the current $10 to $15. Wealth redistribution has long been an object of faith for Durham’s liberal politicians.
Just how much wealth is redistributed was shown today in The Herald-Sun‘s story on the proposed increase. Actual users of the bus system pay only 20 percent of the $14 million annual cost of the system. This helps us understand just how much it is costing us to run large buses with only three or four passengers in them. Nearly half of the $14 million comes from property taxes, and 9 percent comes from the current auto registration fee.
No mention of any notion that maybe the cost of fares should be increased to help pay the deficit the system is running. In fact, when the state legislature authorized the auto registration fee they required the DATA system to let some riders ride for free and forced them to establish even more money-losing routes:
The 2004 increase came as part of a compromise deal between legislators and city officials. The city got a $5 increase only on condition that it use the money to offer free bus service to the elderly and that it beef up routes serving public schools.
