As Josh mentioned in Morning Fizz yesterday, city council member Tim Burgess, a supporter of repealing the so-called "head tax" (a $25-per-employee tax, paid by employers, that pays for transportation projects), is proposing a list of potential new taxes that could make up the $4.5 million the tax currently raises.

According to a draft of the proposal obtained by PubliCola this morning, raising several existing fees and taxes and creating a new licensing fee produce more than $19 million to pay for bike and pedestrian improvements. The new fees could include:

• A 50-cent increase in parking meter fees;

• A 25 percent hike in the commercial parking tax;

• A $3 increase in fines on parking tickets; and

• A new $10 tax on car registrations, which on its own could bring in $5 million.

On his blog, Burgess says he supports those taxes, but not the employee hours tax, because his new proposal would have a direct relationship to how much people drive alone:

For example, the cost of parking when paid for by a driver has a direct relationship to the driver's wallet. Increase the cost of parking and the "purchase" of that service should decline. Increase on-street parking costs (meters and pay stations) to generally equal that of off-street parking and we make even greater progress in encouraging people to consider alternatives.

Ironically, in its current form, the draft includes an exemption that's almost identical to the exemption in the original "head tax"—the same exemption Burgess and others said was "too complicated" to administer.

I've got a call in to Burgess to find out more about why he's supporting the tax increases.