Posted by
Josh Todd on Sunday, February 17, 2008 12:00:00 AM
Hold your pocket books, folks. Montgomery County, Ohio has placed Issue 39 on the March 4th primary ballot, a measure that would replace an existing property tax and, naturally, increase it by 0.7 mills. Proceeds go to Sinclair Community College. The increase may not be much, but one should vote in the negative in this case.
The “Why” may be the more important part of the recommendation. There are 39 different issues on various Montgomery County ballots, and the vast majority of them involve tax measures (typically replacements with increases). So Daytonians are being asked, again (and like everyone else), to volunteer for another tax hike.
Last fall, voters approved a Human Services renewal and increase that will, for instance, raise my property taxes by several hundred dollars per year. I believe it passed because most voters didn’t take time to read the measure itself or even read about it on the web. Instead, they reacted to the entirely emotional plea put forth in television and radio ads. That’s what the Sinclair levy’s supporters use, as well.
Dayton also has a depressed economy. Neither the Sinclair measure nor the Human Services levy made sense in a shrinking county with fewer taxpayers and fewer folks to service. Furthermore, in an area where people are squeaking by financially—Dayton is a national leader in mortgage foreclosures—our wise government officials want more money. They claim they are trying to help, trying to do “the people’s” work. Taking more of our money is not what I would call “help.”
Moreover, the specter of massive tax increases looms on the horizon. Despite Governor Strickland’s wise proclamations to leave tax rates where they are at the state level, his administration and the state assembly continues to rack up higher spending bills. Without cutting back, they will likely conclude that taxes need to be raised to offset the coming budget shortfalls.
Secondly, there is a good chance the Democrats will own Washington as of 2009—the White House and both houses of Congress. An overwhelming majority of Democrats have strongly indicated that at least two things will happen: they will allow the Bush tax cuts to expire, resulting in a huge tax hike; and they will raise the capital gains tax. Both measures will stall the economy if we are lucky enough to have begun another expansion in the business cycle by that time. Should the economy be in recession, the higher tax bill will prolong the stagnant growth.
This is only one aspect of the argument against Issue 39, but it is compelling. While voters can, they should reject new taxes in preparation for 2009 and 2010 when the chances are very good that Washington will increase the burden once again. Chances are also good that thoughtful opposition to the measure will go unnoticed because the media in Dayton sympathizes with it and, much as it was with the Human Services levy, there will be no organized opposition. Still, we do what we may.