Board of Supervisors sets hearing on proposed plastic bag tax
The
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on July 27 agreed to hold a public hearing on
a proposed plastic bag tax.
The tax would be 5 cents per bag provided by grocery stores, convenience stores, and drugstores.
The
hearing is scheduled for Sept. 14 at
4:30 p.m. at the Fairfax County Government Center.
A new Virginia law enacted last year allows
localities to impose a tax on plastic bags.
The tax would encourage people to use fewer
plastic bags and would thus keep more bags out of streams, rivers, and oceans where they harm fish and other wildlife. Plastic also breaks down into harmful
micro-particles that are ingested by animals and people.
If approved by the board, the plastic tax
would take effect Jan. 1.
According to state law, the 5-cent tax would be
collected by the state, with the revenue shared by retailers and Fairfax County.
Retailers would keep 2 cents of the tax collected until Jan. 1, 2023. After that, their share
would drop to 1 cent. The remainder would go to the county, minus any costs to the
state for collecting the tax.
Under state law, the county must use the bag tax revenue for environmental cleanup,
pollution and litter mitigation, education programs on environmental waste
reduction, or providing reusable bags to recipients of federal food assistance
programs.
Certain kinds of plastic bags would be exempt
from the tax:
- Bags
used to contain or wrap meat, fish, poultry, produce, ice cream, unwrapped bulk
food, or perishable food to avoid damage or contamination; - Bags used to carry dry cleaning or prescription drugs;
- Bags sold for garbage, pet waste, or yard waste; and
- Reusable plastic shopping bags with handles that are at least 4 mils thick.
The board voted 9-1 to hold a hearing to give
the public a say on the proposed tax.
The lone vote against the measure was cast by Supervisor
Pat Herrity (Springfield), who said he opposes all new taxes, supports recycling
as an alternative, and raised concerns that the tax would lead to more
littering.
Supervisor
James Walkingshaw (Braddock), the chief proponent of the plastic bag tax, said only
3 percent of plastic bags are brought to recycling bins at grocery stores. The
rest end up in landfills and waterways.
Walkinshaw said numerous studies show fees
reduce plastic bag use and litter. Recycling isn’t effective because the bags
have to be melted down into pellets, he said. That is expensive, and the pellets
have limited use.
Anyone who wants to speak at the public hearing should sign up here.
Sure,
Let's screw the poor some more.
If you have money you dont go to Giant / Grand market anyway.
The virtue signaling of this county is plain disgusting
How is this virtue signaling? It's a legitimate effort to reduce waste and protect the environment. There is nothing sanctimonious about it. It's not like disincentives to plastic bags don't exist in other places.
Also, it is absurd to say that this screws over the poor. Poor persons are able to reuse bags just as much as anyone else. It's purely a shift in mindset. Not everything has to be disposable or convenient at all times.
How about a 5 cent tax on every time you re-revote in an idiot supervisor. I dare the Blog to publish this. They dont like the truth when I point out the misgivings of the extreme liberal losers.
Wow, maybe next time you can triple-dog dare them to publish your comment.
Why should any of the collected taxes go to the retailers? They already build the cost of bags into their pricing calculations.
It is the only way that they can get retailers approval.
The merchants keep some of the tax revenue to reimburse the cost of administering this ridiculous tax. I can just see people showing up at the supermarket armed with enough bags to hold the week's groceries. Or, carting around a pile of bags in their cars. It's much easier to spend a few nickels on bags. So, in the long run, the bag tax will become little more than just another assault by the BOS on residents' disposable income. And, btw, expect the BOS to pass a meals tax as soon as the economy recovers a bit more. Then you can can pay one tax for that rotisserie chicken and another for the bag in which to carry it home. – Sparky
I'm all in favor of this to help our environment. I've been using cloth bags for years anyway and it's really not an inconvenience.
let's do it! Then when I find a 7-11 bag with trash on my street after a Saturday night, I'll know the jerk who threw it out their car window had to pay for the bag! Heck, let's make it 10 cents.
I’ve heard reusable bags can be pretty dirty, including E. coli. Any truth to that?
-BigDumbIdiot
This is just an excuse for the BoS to get more revenue and has nothing to do with environmental stewardship. If they cared about the environment they would have put an end to permitting mini-mansions to replace tear downs that occupy much more of the property and add to the already growing heat island in Mason. And thus they are rightfully coined as the Board of Stupids.
I'm fine with this bag tax but can we end the policy that grocery stores make you bag your own groceries if you bring your own bag? They like to say reusable grocery bags are a covid risk but that is bad science (it's spread through airways) and just an excuse for them not wanting to bag groceries for the customer.