( – promoted by JulieWaters)
Did the Vermont Public Service board just propose eliminating the sales tax on the sale of 4,310 major appliances?
“Funds for fridges” The State of Vermont has submitted for US Department of Energy approval a plan which would offer rebates on the purchase of new energy efficient appliances, including washers, refrigerators, air conditioners, and also certain gas furnaces and water heaters. Documentation that the old appliance was properly recycled would need to be provided.
The Burlington Free Press reports,
The proposal calls for rebates, ranging from $75 to $150, on efficient clothes washers, refrigerators and air conditioners. … The state’s plan allows for 4,310 such appliances to be sold through the rebate plan.
So far so good. Trade up to an energy efficient appliance with the aid of a government run program. However they hope to piggyback the program on the state’s one-day sales tax holiday. Perhaps cleverly generating publicity but also losing any revenue the state might have garnered from the increased sales of new efficient appliances over the course of the program.
If approved by the Energy Department the rebates would be offered in a one-day event on Vermont’s next “sales tax holiday,” slated for March 10, piggybacking on the attention paid to the day free of sales taxes, the filing says. Efficiency Vermont would develop lists of the eligible products Jan. 1, the documents state.
My objection is that it takes a perfectly good national stimulus/green program and tethers it to Douglas’ hobbyhorse, the sales tax holiday. So we’re going to squeeze our entire participation into a single stinkin’ day — ensuring horrendous crowds at appliance stores, and quite possibly cutting the number of consumers who manage to take advantage of the rebates.
Why not give the program a few weeks? Maybe start it on March 10 if you must, but let it play out and allow us to take maximum advantage of it?
I know, I know — because Douglas is less interested in the actual impact of the program, than he is in a burst of nice juicy publicity.
Seems like there is something wrong with this story.
Why is the Public Service Board involved?
The Department of Public Service applies for the ARRA $ and doesn’t need the PSB approval for something like this, as far as I know.
Anyone know if this is correct?
Certainly the lead-in above is incorrect,
The Public Service Board does not propose stuff like this. I suspect that this is all about the Public Service Department, not the Board.
PJ