WASHINGTON (July 1)—The New Jersey legislature has quietly passed a bill creating a $1.50 tax on each new tire sold in the state, including tires and spares on new vehicles.
According to the bill's language, the tax is expected to generate about $12.3 million in revenue in fiscal year 2005; "not less than" $2.3 million is to be used for the state's scrap tire fund, and the rest is to go toward snow removal.
The use of tire taxes for purposes other than scrap tire abatement is growing among the states, and the Rubber Manufacturers Association disapproves, according to RMA Senior Technical Director Michael Blumenthal. "We tried to call the sponsors of this bill, and got no response," Blumenthal said. "I got the message that this was a done deal from the time it was introduced."