posting
03-22-2006, 04:59 PM
The View From Myrtle Beach by Richard Tindal
This is the fifth and last in an occasional series of articles depicting the similarity of local government issues north and south of the border.
5. Rocky Movies and Property Tax Reforms
Some things never seem to end. Almost as scary as Sylvester Stallone apparently making another Rocky Movie (how credible is a senior citizen boxing comeback story?), is the never-ending saga of property tax reform.
In an earlier article in this series, I reported on the state government legislation that would increase the sales tax by 2% and use this money to replace residential property taxes - in the process effectively removing any fiscal independence from local municipalities. The state senate has rejected this plan. While homeowners had - not surprisingly - endorsed the plan, it was criticized by businesses and the state Chamber of Commerce as shifting the tax burden to the business community.
Instead, the state senate spent several weeks looking at ways that it could remove school operating costs from homeowners' tax bills, on the grounds that this move would address the inequities between poor and rich counties. However, the senate couldn't figure out how it would finance the costs involved. Funding the education costs from an increased sales tax would have meant jumping it from the current 5% to 9%, two percent more than the scheme already rejected. An option that would see the removal of most sales tax exemptions as a way of generating revenues was rejected. It was likened to "swatting a hornet's nest with a stick," given the number of vested interests that would be aroused by any such attempt.
The senate's latest brain wave is something called a "circuit breaker." Under this scheme, the state would become involved and pay a portion of a homeowner's tax bill if the bill reaches a certain percentage of the homeowners' income. It has not yet determined what that percentage break point would be, how much it would cost the state to subsidize taxes this way, or how the state would fund this subsidy. In the meantime, state legislators offer penetrating insights into the obvious by remarking that no matter what they do "someone's ox is going to be gored," and that "they were surprised to discover how difficult it is to spread tax relief equally."
I expect to find this debate continuing when I return to Myrtle Beach next winter. If so, as a public service, I will try to meet with the state government and make legislators aware of the excellent example of the Ontario government and its introduction - almost 10 years ago now - of a new property tax system that would be simple and easy to understand!
The other articles in this series can be found at the following links:
The View From Myrtle Beach: Property Taxes Are Beloved Everywhere (http://www.kingstonelectors.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=1204)
The View From Myrtle Beach: Taking the Bus (http://www.kingstonelectors.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=1203)
The View From Myrtle Beach: Be Careful What You Wish For - Property Tax Reform (http://www.kingstonelectors.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=1202)
The View From Myrtle Beach: What If Patients Were Revenues Instead of Costs? (http://www.kingstonelectors.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=1201)
The View From Myrtle Beach: Rocky Movies and Property Tax Reforms (http://www.kingstonelectors.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=1200)
This is the fifth and last in an occasional series of articles depicting the similarity of local government issues north and south of the border.
5. Rocky Movies and Property Tax Reforms
Some things never seem to end. Almost as scary as Sylvester Stallone apparently making another Rocky Movie (how credible is a senior citizen boxing comeback story?), is the never-ending saga of property tax reform.
In an earlier article in this series, I reported on the state government legislation that would increase the sales tax by 2% and use this money to replace residential property taxes - in the process effectively removing any fiscal independence from local municipalities. The state senate has rejected this plan. While homeowners had - not surprisingly - endorsed the plan, it was criticized by businesses and the state Chamber of Commerce as shifting the tax burden to the business community.
Instead, the state senate spent several weeks looking at ways that it could remove school operating costs from homeowners' tax bills, on the grounds that this move would address the inequities between poor and rich counties. However, the senate couldn't figure out how it would finance the costs involved. Funding the education costs from an increased sales tax would have meant jumping it from the current 5% to 9%, two percent more than the scheme already rejected. An option that would see the removal of most sales tax exemptions as a way of generating revenues was rejected. It was likened to "swatting a hornet's nest with a stick," given the number of vested interests that would be aroused by any such attempt.
The senate's latest brain wave is something called a "circuit breaker." Under this scheme, the state would become involved and pay a portion of a homeowner's tax bill if the bill reaches a certain percentage of the homeowners' income. It has not yet determined what that percentage break point would be, how much it would cost the state to subsidize taxes this way, or how the state would fund this subsidy. In the meantime, state legislators offer penetrating insights into the obvious by remarking that no matter what they do "someone's ox is going to be gored," and that "they were surprised to discover how difficult it is to spread tax relief equally."
I expect to find this debate continuing when I return to Myrtle Beach next winter. If so, as a public service, I will try to meet with the state government and make legislators aware of the excellent example of the Ontario government and its introduction - almost 10 years ago now - of a new property tax system that would be simple and easy to understand!
The other articles in this series can be found at the following links:
The View From Myrtle Beach: Property Taxes Are Beloved Everywhere (http://www.kingstonelectors.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=1204)
The View From Myrtle Beach: Taking the Bus (http://www.kingstonelectors.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=1203)
The View From Myrtle Beach: Be Careful What You Wish For - Property Tax Reform (http://www.kingstonelectors.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=1202)
The View From Myrtle Beach: What If Patients Were Revenues Instead of Costs? (http://www.kingstonelectors.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=1201)
The View From Myrtle Beach: Rocky Movies and Property Tax Reforms (http://www.kingstonelectors.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=1200)