Property Taxes
Summary: Taxes paid to the government take money out of the private economy, and great care should be taken in levying them.
I strongly believe that property taxes should be kept in check. The current business model that we are in locally as well as at state and national levels is that we continue to surrender more and more of our hard earned money to the government so that they can spend it how they deem fit. Not only do you lose control of how your own money should be spent, but often the funds that go to the government are not used as efficiently as they would in your own household.
I also believe strongly that there are grave macroeconomic consequences to tax increases. Let's say that your last property tax bill was $300 more than last year. If you are on a fixed income or money is tight, you may not even have the money, which provides an obvious and immediate financial hardship. Even if you do have an extra $300 laying around, our economy still takes a hit when you give it to the government instead of spending it yourself. Say you like to go out to eat at a local diner or go to movies at a local theatre. You have to cut out $300 of your spending, so you may not go out to eat as often or go to as many movies. The diner and theatre's revenues go down by that $300. If that happens to enough people, eventually those businesses may have to cut staff or even close down. Those staff and those businesses are harmed because of the higher taxes. Who has benefited? The City government? How?
In Manitowoc, we have increased property taxes for 2009 by 4.24% over 2008 levels. This is unacceptable--Has your income gone up by 4%? Have you received 4% more city services? I will not propose a tax increase unless I am absolutely convinced that our City is operating efficiently and we have no other choice.
Do my arguments warrant me a tax break or should my taxes be doubled just to punish me for having so little understanding of this issue? Bring a copy of your property tax bill over to the discussion board.