Posted on 07/25/2020 3:09:31 AM PDT by Kaslin
On Election Day, Americans will cast their vote for President of the United States. While easily the most high-profile thing on the ballot, this is not the only important decision voters will be making. State politicians -- rather than reform government to cost less -- are angling for higher taxes.
In Arkansas, for example, voters will be asked if they want to write a permanent sales tax increase into the state constitution. If “YES” wins the vote, the people of Arkansas will see their state sales taxes hiked by about 9%, taking roughly $300 million a year away from residents and shoveling it to the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT).
Back in 2012, special interests convinced voters to support a “temporary” 0.5 percentage point sales tax increase on the promise that it would be used for “roads and bridges.” Over the last several years, that ballot measure – now known as Amendment 91 in the state constitution – has given ARDOT about $2 billion in additional funding and, predictably, there is little to show for it.
Now, taxpayers are being asked to support another measure that would give even more of their hard-earned money to this unelected, unaccountable government agency. Issue 1, which will appear on the November 3rd ballot, would amend the state constitution to make the “temporary” sales tax hike – which took the state sales tax rate from 6% to 6.5% – permanent.
Proponents of the tax hike have been trying to downplay its magnitude by saying things like “it is only a half a percent” or “taxpayers are already paying it, so it is not really a tax increase.” Those claims are a terrible misrepresentation of the facts.
Under current law, the state sales tax rate is scheduled to drop from 6.5% back down to 6% “when there are no bonds outstanding to which tax collections are pledged as provided in this amendment.” This is expected to occur in 2023, meaning Arkansas taxpayers will very soon see a smaller sales tax bite on their purchases.
If Issue 1 is adopted, however, current law would change, and taxpayers would be stuck with the higher 6.5% rate. Permanently. This is, in fact, a tax hike, and not just a small one, as advocates of Issue 1 would like voters to think. Taking the rate from 6% to 6.5%, a 0.5 percentage point increase, is actually an 8.33% tax hike. That increase is much greater than “just half a percent.”
Before the 2012 “temporary” sales tax hike took effect (on July 1, 2013) Arkansans were already burdened with the 6th highest combined state and local sales tax rate in the country. A state sales tax rate of 6.5% means Arkansas will continue to fight with Louisiana and Tennessee (Tennessee is one of nine states that do not highest combined state and local sales tax rate in the nation.
Politicians across the nation have a favorite trick: pass a “temporary” tax hike, then years later, when taxpayers are “used” to carrying this higher burden, announce it will be permanent. The politicians hope Arkansans have forgotten their lie that the tax hike would be “temporary.”
On Election Day, Arkansas taxpayers will have the opportunity to avoid the fate of Pennsylvanians, who are still stuck paying a “temporary” tax imposed after the Johnstown Flood of 1936.
They can say NO. NO more lying Arkansans into higher taxes.
Mo’ money! Mo’ money! All for Silas...
A sales tax is one of the only ways to collect taxes from illegal aliens.
I live in Illinois. The statement “there is nothing more permanent than a temporary tax” applies here. First it is temporary, then becomes permanent.
There’s no such thing as a “fair” tax, IMO. There’s nothing right about government seizing money at the point of a gun, and then handing it out to one favored group or another.
That’s an odd statement. I’d agree that most government expenditures are bullsh!t, but there isn’t a civilization anywhere in the history of mankind that doesn’t need tax revenue for “public” purposes.
It always comes down to “how much and what for.”
And — importantly — “Who pays it?” That was really the point of my original post.
We have several local taxes coming up in August and November. Fire, library, schools - I’m voting no across the board. Even the library, which are about the only taxes I’ve ever voted for, gets a no from me.
I’m sick and tired of government deadheads suckling at the taxpayer tit with the EXPECTATION that they never miss a payday. All through the hoax the teachers, cops, etc didn’t miss a single check. That’s a slap in the face to folks who work for a living.
By training, I am a librarian and I’d vote no on a public library tax. I believe as an institution they have outlived their purpose. Anything in a library reference room can be obtained online for a fraction of the cost. There is no need for physical libraries anymore.
If you need a tax increase then it’s better for the legislature to do it than to put it on the ballot. The legislature can easily undo it if it turns out to be a mistake. If there is pressure to increase taxes then the legislature should do its job and keep these proposals off the ballot. I feel the same way about marijuana and most other things.
In Florida, they asked us to add 250 to our property taxes for school security measures. I said no but anything for the children and people get mushy so of course it passed. After all it’s only homeowners on the hook even though everyone had a say in the decision. It was supposed to be a one time thing but I heard the money will he permanent. Not shocked!
People in NJ used to vote for all that nonsense “for the children” until they ended up with unaffordable property taxes (which are permanently high, and has led to the evacuation of young Americans from the state). Now those questions fail in all but the wealthiest neighborhoods; the residents in those see sky-high taxes as a way to keep blacks out of their neighborhoods (and it works).
“By training, I am a librarian and I’d vote no on a public library tax. I believe as an institution they have outlived their purpose. Anything in a library reference room can be obtained online for a fraction of the cost. There is no need for physical libraries anymore”
Pretty much the primary purpose of ‘libraries’ these days is for kids to have a place to view porn without restriction (we can thank our ‘librarians’ for that [you excluded, of course]), and a ‘safe space’ for drag queens to read stories to little kids (once again, librarians leading the way).
So I agree, their time is over. But, unfortunately, because of the above, the Left absolutely loves ‘librarians’, so they’re not going anywhere, since our side won’t fight.
Your remarks echos those of my father’s. He told me when ND first experimented with sales tax, it was just temporary. And that was decades ago.
Dad knew once any tax got a foothold it would never go away.
Buy something online recently? There’s now about a 5% tax levied. Who the Hell passed that? It seems like it snuck in overnight.
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