Permille

08.02.2005

Technorati tags:

Ironically, I've been having an online discussion w/ K8 about millage taxes, their merits, and whether they're regressive taxes. I write "ironically" because there was a millage election in Kalamazoo County today. I suppose no one notified me because I rent, and would (statistically) be less likely to show up to vote in a millage election. So, I've just now caught up w/ the news on the local paper's online edition.

Anyhow. My argument about millage taxes being regressive is that they tend to have an equal percent share of taxes per property value, regardless of actual citizen income. While I'm not an anarchist libertarian, I tend to think governments too often think of citizens as a bottomless source of income for projects of all sorts.

And since this country was founded on the principle of "No taxation without representation!" I suppose it's only appropriate that citizen-voters be able to tell their government "basta!" when it comes to new taxes. Even if the taxes are for things voters might want — after all, if we have to learn to live w/in our existing budgets, so should governments.

Still. I don't think voters are fundamentally selfish, just that many often feel overly strained by taxes. And it's worse, think, w/ property millages (the common Michigan solution), since they tax property value. Unless the millage is very specifically tailored to avoid hurting certain groups, they can burden people on fixed/low incomes just because their property values have gone up (due to gentrification or new development tracks moving in or whatever).

Also, ironically, the millage proposal (for new a new county juvenile jail) are about to fail (not all precincts are in, but it's pretty obvious). The proposal would've raised taxes by $102 for the average taxpayer. This is ironic because it seems the groups most in favor of the millage (who put up a total of $50,000 to a fund to promote a "Yes" vote) include the Kalamazoo Chamber of Commerce, some prominent families, and large corporations like Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. The opponents raised barely $431.59 to fight the proposal.

Seems, in this case, the rich were willing to fight for more taxes; the battle against a new tax was waged by those unable to raise a decent political war chest. Oh, that $431.59? It was also shared by a campaign to fight a school millage in the nearby town of Galesburg.

-----
NOTE: If you're unfamiliar, a "mill" is a common property tax format used in Michigan (and, I'm sure, other places). It's one tenth of one percent per dollar of taxable property value.

Posted by Miguel at 11:27 PM

Comments

I find it amusing that the rich are willing to assume more taxes for a juvenile jail, but [don't care] when it comes to economic assistance programs. Which in a sense is understandable; on one hand are juveniles increasingly committing serious crimes (like the teens running meth labs out in rural west Michigan, or killing eachother), and on the other hand you have the state doling out dinero to people that aren't working. Interesting though.

Reminds me of a conversation I had w/an old-timer prosecutor who swears that prosecuting crimes these days is easier than the heady days of decades past. It is his opinion that the focus of criminal justice in general has shifted away from trying to address root causes of crime, to retribution. With which I agree. The system can't take into account every time a criminal's mommy said she didn't love him, or the fact that suffered malnutrition when he was young. And the system certainly doesn't have the resources (or the stomach) to set up elaborate behavioral reinforcement schedules to correct bad guys. So we nail them hard immediately after they [screw] up to send the message that no matter what their condition, there are certain things they cannot do, and if they cross that line they get the hammer.

What was the topic of your post again? :P

What does "basta" mean? I like the ring of it.

Posted by: tom at August 3, 2005 02:44 PM