Lawmakers look to alcohol, gas, fertilizer to pay for water

MONTPELIER – To cut down on pollution in Lake Champlain and other Vermont waters, lawmakers are considering raising taxes on rooms and meals, alcohol, gas, diesel and agricultural fertilizer, and adding a $5 per night fee on hotel stays.

Marina slip rentals, parking spaces, self-storage facilities and limousine services would be newly subjected to the 6 percent sales and use tax.

The total package being drafted in the House Committee on Natural Resources, Fish and Wildlife would raise about $50 million per year.

“We’re not just looking to fill up a brown paper bag of money and scatter it around the state of Vermont,” said Rep. David Deen, D-Westminster, chairman of the committee. “This is a thoughtful, targeted investment in clean water.”

Read more: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/16/lawmakers-look-alcohol-gas-fertilizer-pay-water/98011132/