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Someone living on a farm would also pay all those taxes, except “municipal”, which isn’t a universal concept. Considering they cause less external cost by park

Someone living on a farm would also pay all those taxes, except “municipal”, which isn’t a universal concept. Considering they cause less external cost by parking their car on private property, either they are currently getting a raw deal, or you are not actually paying for all of what you are consuming. Also: you’re just making stuff up when you claim the government has ever promised you universal free parking.

TomMarius 8y ago
You're missing my point. These taxes contribute to state budget and then the government passes a law about the state budget for the next year (I'm european). There they specify purpose of various amounts of money - and a significant percentage of that is road maintenance, construction, etc. If I pay all these taxes (thus contribute to the state budget as I should) I shouldn't pay for a parking space because the government is supposed to build that from my taxes. And no, I'm not making anything up. There is zero reason why the government should build roads if not for sharing the whole infrastructure and providing everyone with the opportunity to use their car to go where they need (and, of course, park there - it'd be useless otherwise). There is huge precedent with public parking spaces literally everywhere, because European cities simply don't allow people to have their own parking places. Of course that backfires now because this made sense in the 80's but not today. I'm not saying I'm against car regulation etc, that's another discussion. My point is that the government definitely should not take my money for what they don't do.
- shaki-dora 8y ago
  Road usage is taxed proportionally by gas taxes (and sometimes even tolls), Parking is not, because some people park on private property. The rail network is also supported by taxes, yet train tickets still cost money. Cultural events are also often supported by taxes, yet they charge admission.
  - TomMarius 8y ago
    As I said, every year the state budget is separated to different purposes; in Europe here is no connection between what the tax is and what budget it will fill - everything is put to one money "bucket" (of course except for local taxes, similar process is used at local governments) and then the budget is created and that budget specifically includes public parking. According to our constitution every person is equal, so why am I forced to pay 1 million CZK (45k USD, cost of building a parking spot - needs to be underground because of space constraints) more for an apartment just because I live in Prague? The government has simply decided that they don't want to do their job in this city while they happily do it literally all around the rest of the country, that is fair? Why other cities or happier people in the rest of Prague can get public parking spaces with no further payments (in very few places there is a yearly fee, but that is okay, I would pay), and why calling it unfair is wrong? I'm perfectly happy with people being forced to build their spaces on their property and I'm even completely fine with people not being able to have a car - but I'm definitely not going to pay for parking and then be happy with not getting any.

TomMarius 8y ago

You're missing my point. These taxes contribute to state budget and then the government passes a law about the state budget for the next year (I'm european). There they specify purpose of various amounts of money - and a significant percentage of that is road maintenance, construction, etc. If I pay all these taxes (thus contribute to the state budget as I should) I shouldn't pay for a parking space because the government is supposed to build that from my taxes. And no, I'm not making anything up. There is zero reason why the government should build roads if not for sharing the whole infrastructure and providing everyone with the opportunity to use their car to go where they need (and, of course, park there - it'd be useless otherwise). There is huge precedent with public parking spaces literally everywhere, because European cities simply don't allow people to have their own parking places. Of course that backfires now because this made sense in the 80's but not today. I'm not saying I'm against car regulation etc, that's another discussion. My point is that the government definitely should not take my money for what they don't do.

shaki-dora 8y ago
Road usage is taxed proportionally by gas taxes (and sometimes even tolls), Parking is not, because some people park on private property. The rail network is also supported by taxes, yet train tickets still cost money. Cultural events are also often supported by taxes, yet they charge admission.
- TomMarius 8y ago
  As I said, every year the state budget is separated to different purposes; in Europe here is no connection between what the tax is and what budget it will fill - everything is put to one money "bucket" (of course except for local taxes, similar process is used at local governments) and then the budget is created and that budget specifically includes public parking. According to our constitution every person is equal, so why am I forced to pay 1 million CZK (45k USD, cost of building a parking spot - needs to be underground because of space constraints) more for an apartment just because I live in Prague? The government has simply decided that they don't want to do their job in this city while they happily do it literally all around the rest of the country, that is fair? Why other cities or happier people in the rest of Prague can get public parking spaces with no further payments (in very few places there is a yearly fee, but that is okay, I would pay), and why calling it unfair is wrong? I'm perfectly happy with people being forced to build their spaces on their property and I'm even completely fine with people not being able to have a car - but I'm definitely not going to pay for parking and then be happy with not getting any.