Controversy Over Car Tax

Re “Cut the Car Tax for Kids--and Families,� Commentary, June 8: Gov. Pete Wilson says he wants to cut “the car tax, which averages $185 per vehicle per year, both because it’s so broad and because it’s sneaky and misleading.� OK, who would save more, the working guy with the 5-year-old Ford Escort or the CEO with a Mercedes fleet or a Rolls?

He says his plan will be especially welcome “for those working people for whom their cars are an absolute necessity,� but clearly it saves the most money for the richest car owners.

NANCY BARTH

Beverly Hills

* I suggest that Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa speak for himself when he recommends the use of the car tax for schools (Commentary, June 3). I am a widow living on a very small pension and this year my 1991 car cost $186 to register, plus the onerous smog check costing over $50. This is almost impossible for me to squeeze out of my budget. Let those people who are reproducing offspring with no thought of who is going to provide for them continue to pay the car tax. Let those of us who have paid and paid and are sick of it off the hook.

I am sure those having children in the schools will be delighted to continue to have their pockets picked by the likes of Villaraigosa. Let those who have the most children pay the most. The car tax is a burden for those of us on a set income. We are not all wealthy and driving Cadillac Sevilles.

PAULINE DOANE

San Diego

* Instead of giving the auto tax back to the people, please use it to keep the libraries open--which may keep the young people off the street after school.

KATHLEEN M. MAYNARD

San Jacinto