It's that time of year when I settle down to do taxes and, like many people, I try to find a quiet place so I won't be disturbed. With three teen-agers in the house, though, finding solitude can be as difficult as finding simplicity in the tax code. But that's another article. Of more importance is the beginning of the 2001 Virginia General Assembly and its approach to taxing and spending.
Gov. Jim Gilmore was swept into office in 1997 promising to end the hated car tax in five years. To date, he has - with the help of a booming economy and big tax surpluses - delivered on the promise. His plan would have folks paying only 30 percent of the car tax on the first $20,000 of a vehicle's assessed value next year, with the tax being eliminated in 2002. But economic growth is projected to be 3.2 percent - less than the level necessary to trigger the next phase of the tax reduction. So the governor will have to find other sources of revenue to complete his pledge. A plan to use money from the tobacco settlement was scuttled by the Senate Finance Committee this week, so the search continues.

In essence, the governor - in trying to find money for a political promise that is greatly complicated by a slowing economy - finds himself in a budgetary kabuki dance with legislative partners who are fearful of having their appropriations feet trampled.

How did we get in this mess? By embracing wildly optimistic surplus projections while increasing spending a whopping 33 percent in the past three years (with inflation at only 2 percent per year). In 1997, Virginia's biennial budget was $36 billion. Today, that figure has grown to $48 billion - a $12 billion increase. "But haven't we received tax cuts," one might ask? Car tax relief so far has totaled $447 million. The 0.5 percent food tax cut in 1999 was $60 million. When all tax cuts are finally implemented, they will amount to $1.6 billion - a mere 13.3 percent of the increase in spending. Conclusion? State spending is out of control and we need to do something about it.

What may be most sad is that the people who ran on cutting taxes now want to increase taxes to pay for their profligate spending. Sen. Chuck Colgan, D-Manassas, has proposed a 1.5-cent increase in the sales tax to pay for the elimination of the car tax, an action that could have been easily realized had the legislature not let spending spin out of control. Delegate Harry Parrish, R-Manassas, has said he would support similar legislation while Delegate Jack Rollison, R-Woodbridge, has declared that he will seek a half-cent increase in the sales tax for Northern Virginia to support transportation projects. If these gentlemen have their way, Northern Virginians will pay almost 50 percent more in sales taxes - a two cent increase from the current 4.5 percent. This could have been avoided had our legislature not gone on a spending binge. Under the guise of cutting taxes, lawmakers have created the conditions for bigger government and more tax increases. I wonder what they expect us to cut in our family budget to pay for their increases?

Gov. Gilmore is worried and is already suggesting an across-the-board 3 percent cut in spending. But the damage has already been done. The surplus is spent. Moreover, those of us who understand that a government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you've got are disenchanted with politicians who won't live up to their promise to reduce the tax burden. Federal, state and local taxes on a two-wage family with a median income now claim 37.6 percent of earnings, and lawmakers do not look as if they plan to do anything to improve the situation.
Isn't it time we got serious about holding our leaders to their promises by reminding them that, one, increased taxing and spending creates an ever-growing population that makes claims on the largesse of government and, two, promising to reduce taxes while increasing spending is truly a fraud.

In business, it's a crime to offer attractive prices for out-of-stock products simply to entice the person to buy in-stock items for more money. It's called "bait and switch." Our elected leaders are no less ignoble when they promise tax cuts - and even deliver modest ones - only to explode spending in the same motion. The word oppressive comes to mind, but I can't think about that now - my teens are making too much noise. But readers who do have some thoughts on the subject can let their legislators know about them by visiting the General Assembly's Web site at http://legis.state.va.us/vaonline/v.htm.

L. Scott Lingamfelter lives with his family in Lake Ridge