Given that we have just sent a crew of R’s to the House of Delegates, I don’t see permission to switch to a county income tax from the property tax model coming anytime soon, but I do think that that is ultimately the answer to giving the county a reliable and fair taxing structure that doesn’t penalize low and fixed income property owners or those that have fallen on hard times.As I said in this comment on the roads thread:
Loudoun Interfaith Relief has seen a sharp increase in the number of people seeking food assistance.
More children than ever are qualifying for free lunch in our schools.
The number of people out of work for over a year is at a record high.
We have people in real distress.
Meanwhile, it is absolutely the case that we also have fabulous wealth in the county…And this is why an income tax is fair and a property tax isn’t.
I do feel that there are people who can afford to pay more, and an income tax would enable that.
I also feel that the (admittedly regressive) meals tax should have passed if as many people who are upset about the cut to schools had voted for that tax – which was clearly stated on the ballot as being reserved for school funding…but it failed by over 70%. So there is definitely a disconnect in people’s priorities.
Again, if you want to pay more in taxes than you are currently getting billed, you are absolutely allowed to do.
But it does cut away the “Please Raise My Taxes, I Can Afford It” statement. Not everyone can afford it, and with a property-only tax base, the tax on one property can’t be raised without raising the taxes on all properties.
And I’ll come back with an answer on HOW you can pay more tomorrow.
For what it’s worth, I hate the “you can pay more if you want to” argument. Not only because it’s facile and regressive in and of itself (if you don’t like Loudoun, you can move! is an equivalent argument), but also because those who make the argument never provide a link to HOW one can do that.
Let’s say I wanted to pay more. HOW? Where’s the link to the documentation?
But I don’t want to. I’ll admit that, I want to pay my fair share, and I want others to pay their fair share too. I don’t want to pay MORE than my fair share so that others can pay less than their fair share. If I paid more now, without a commensurate requirement from my fellow citizens at my property/income etc. bracket, I would simply be subsidizing their ability to pay less and complain about it. No free riders, thank you.
Agreed on the income vs property argument. The problem starts and stops in Richmond.
As for the Meals tax, there’s no requirement for voters to behave rationally, unfortunately.