Tax rise for high polluting cars to help bus fares

Deputies approved the move to add a new proposal to the 2024 budget

Politicians have decided in principle to approve a move to make the owners of higher polluting cars pay more tax to register them.

Guernsey’s Environment and Infrastructure Committee (E&I) President Deputy Lindsay de Sausmarez proposed the plan, to use the money to keep bus fares down.

Policy and Resources Committee (P&R) member Deputy David Mahoney urged States members to reject the proposal and said the subsidy per passenger was already around £3.90 each.

Deputies approved the move to add a new proposal to the 2024 budget by 21 to 17, with two abstentions.

'Social engineering'

Earlier this year bus fares increased by £1.25 to £1.50.

Ms de Sausmarez warned that without the money raised by this new tax, bus fares would have to go up again “as soon as April”.

She said she was very concerned about the impact of the two most recent increases to bus fares.

Deputy Chris Le Tissier described the move to introduce this new rate of tax on higher polluting cars as “another attack on the motorist” and labelled it “social engineering”.

Mr Mahoney said instead of increasing taxes on motorists to fund the bus service, E&I should look at “disbanding the active travel unit”.

If the proposal is approved in the final budget there will be additional higher emissions bandings introduced and charged at £2,000 and £2,500 respectively.

E&I has estimated the new taxes will raise around £340,000 a year and that £250,000 of that additional revenue would be used to subsidise the bus service “to mitigate as far as possible the need to increase bus fares above inflation in 2024.”

The extra £90,000 raised will be added to the States general revenue.

A vote on the final budget is expected later this week.