O.k., nothing serious. Abdul has a post criticizing Thomas’s criticism of the latest Daniels ads. I’ll butt in, just a bit – I don’t have time for thorough analysis.
I’ll just note Abdul’s paragraph:
Daniels’ claim is that he balanced THE STATE’S budget without a tax increase, which is accurate. The Governor did not raise state taxes. His adminstration held the line on spending. Daniels’ opponents argue that he did that by balancing the state’s budget on the back of local governments by holding back property tax replacement revenue which led to the massive increase in last summer’s tax bills. Actually that was only part of it, fundamentally what led to the increase in tax bills was the assessments and local government spending, which is where 99 percent of your property taxes go anyway. And that sales tax increase was to help pay for property tax relief and the state’s assumption of a number of levies such as child welfare and police pensions.
My hackles go up whenever I hear the property tax blamed primarily on local government. Because:
Only about 25% of the 24% average increase (6% then, I suppose) has to do with local tax levies. The remaining 18% of the average increase has to do with a shift in the tax burden (from State to Local and from Business to Residential).
Off-loading to the periphery. It’s something Governor Daniels learned in D.C.
this is really all you need to read in abdul’s post: “that sales tax increase”. in other words, “yes, mitch raised a bunch of taxes but he did it for reasons i agree with!” quite the weak argument.
Doug, the tax shift can still be blamed on local governments.
Look, anybody with a 9th grade education can figure out that if business taxes are lowered, and the levy is unchanged, then residential taxes are going up.
How do you lower business taxes and not shift taxes onto residents? Lower the levy.
Businesses have been raped for a long, long time. They’re finally getting some relief. Deserved relief. Why should local governments not be forced to cut back in the face of that relief?
One example: the City of East Chicago gets $10M out of their $42M budget from one taxpayer: Mittal Steel.
What on earth does East Chicago do for Mittal that they deserve $10M a year from them?
And why does East Chicago have a $42M budget with a population of only 32,000?
It’s all a bunch of nonsense.
Probably the residents there agree to breathe in Mittal’s pollution or something of that nature.
It’s the same down here. I agree to breathe in the CO2, sulfur dioxide, mercury, particulate matter of a dozen coal-fired power plants that reap big profits and ship the power to the East, as well as half a dozen aluminum or steel smelters, and a handful of foundries. The few counties down here agree to have air quality worse than Gary, or LA. In return, these companies pay taxes, local and otherwise.
Make that half a dozen power plants, with one more on the way!
Local taxes would be a whole lot lower without the unfunded state and federal mandates that have been showered upon counties in recent years. Our chief probation officer was going to surpass the sheriff in salary this year until the county council gave the sheriff a little bump in pay. Probation officers’ salaries are mandated by the state, funded by the counties. Also, what increased costs are associated with the detailed data reporting associated with market value assessment? Ask your school administrators how much the implementation of NCLB has cost. Then ask how much additional funding and grants they got from the state to support that. Has your county been ordered to build a new jail? Who set the standards? Who paid for it? Now ask LaPorte County how much they’ve laid out so far to defend their assessment against the DLGF and one wealthy taxpayer? Please.