Taxes continue, with enhancement of power for those in charge

TRACKSIDE © by John D’Aloia Jr.

October 5, 2004

Taxes, once imposed, go on and on and on once the flow of dollars provides politicians and The Clerks with the means to enhance their power. Consider the federal income tax. When it was imposed in 1913, it started at one percent for those earning over $3,000 with a maximum rate of seven percent for those with an income over $500,000. Deductions were generous - only one percent of the population actually had to shell out dollars. Not to worry, citizens were told, no one would dare increase the percentage or impose the tax on the middle class. Richard E. Byrd, speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates at the time, knew what was coming. In asking the House to reject the amendment, he said: "A hand from Washington will be stretched out and placed upon every man’s business; the eye of the Federal inspector will be in every man’s counting house . . . The law will of necessity have inquisitorial features, it will provide penalties, it will create complicated machinery. . . . An army of Federal inspectors, spies and detectives will descend upon the state . . . Who of us who have had knowledge of the doings of the Federal officials in the Internal Revenue Service can be blind to what will follow?"

The pressures to impose any tax, whether it is an income tax, a sales tax, or a property tax keep increasing as we get further and further away from the concept of limited government and individual freedom and responsibility. With each succeeding tax increase, the number of people who think it only appropriate to have government play Robin Hood, to forcibly transfer dollars from their fellow citizens to them to fund their projects is increased. The lure of the new pot of rainbow-gold is too enticing - and often too easy to obtain. Each success that stretches the definition of public purpose beyond recognition begets further attacks on the public purse. The phenomenon is demonstrated by the large number of lobbyists inside the Beltway and in every state capital. If there were no tax dollars - and special considerations - to be had, they would not be there. At the local level, they may not be lobbyists in name, but the effect is the same - people and groups appear before city and county commissions to get their hands on some of the increased government revenue for their projects. If enacted without binding constraints on spending, the proposed Pottawatomie County sales tax will set the stage for expanded spending. The intended purpose of reducing the pressure on the property tax will be swept away as tumbleweeds are swept away in a strong wind.

A Smoke Signal article reported that a church-oriented health organization asked the county commission for a $65,000 grant to help with operating expenses. They were denied, with one commissioner quoted as saying "I think it’s an excellent church oriented organization, but they have many services offered by other people and I don’t want to fund it with taxpayer money." This time, the tumbleweeds did not roll, but the wind is starting to blow.

A city government in the county passed a resolution saying, as cited in the Smoke Signal, that it would use the new found wealth to enhance recreation facilities in the city, such as, but not limited to, the swimming pool and the proposed recreation complex, and to enhance the city’s infrastructure, in an effort to minimize dependence on property taxes. The resolution contained no specificity as to what the dollars would be used for; no specific action to make good on the implied promise to hold the line on property taxes. The resolution, as reported, is a Trojan horse, a blank-check wish list.

Parkinson’s First Law reads: "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." A corollary, based on the observation of governments in action, may well be "Spending expands so as to expend all available tax dollars." Solutions? Put an air-tight, politician-proof cap on spending and make it exceedingly difficult to increase taxes. Be stingy in filling the cookie jar and hobble those who want to raid it.

It does my state of mind no good to learn that a Kansas Republican State Representative is championing legislation that would give all local governments the authority to impose a local earnings tax. Whoopee! Higher sales tax, more taxes on income - and no positive, definitive action taken to lessen or eliminate the property-tax rent we pay to government for our property. It does appear that state politicians are doing all they can to grow government, to hold on to the title "High Tax Point on the Prairie," and to cut economic development off at the knees.

See you Trackside.