COMMERCE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) - It may surprise you to know that your tax dollars are being used to help people buy golf carts. In fact, the federal government will give you more money for a golf cart than they did in the Cash for Clunkers program.
While some people complained about taxpayer money being used for Cash for Clunkers, the stimulus package includes a loophole that grants up to $6,000 for buying electric golf carts. The catch is they have to be street legal, which means headlights, taillights, seat belts and a license plate.
The tax credit is driving customer interest at stores like Michigan Tournament Incorporated.
"Every day we get a handful of people wanting to put a deposit down," said Michigan Tournament's Steve Schickel.
Schickel doesn't even have a display model yet, but the information on his web site about a vehicle that costs $10,000 and qualifies for a $4,000 tax credit has generated a waiting list. He says the demand is so great in warm-weather states like California, Arizona and Florida, northern dealers are having trouble getting them. Some taxpayers find the golf cart tax credit ridiculous.
"Especially since they are expiring the housing tax credit," said Vernay Kiminaia, a self-proclaimed taxpayer. "They should be doing something rather than giving tax credits for golf carts."
Schickel says he has a waiting list of about twenty potential customers, and he believes he will have the vehicles by the end of the year, just in time for customers to get that tax credit.
