R.I. Tax Cuts & War Costs Translate into Higher Property Taxes
As I read the newspapers & the Hard Deadlines blog (links at left) regarding the financial problems faced by Portsmouth, I am reminded of the effect that property taxes have on all of us (as if paying my quarterly bills doesn't serve as enough of a reminder). As Portsmouth goes, so go we all.
Focus is primarily on School Boards & Town Councils. They set or determine the rates and as a result any increases focus on them. I see little responsibility aimed at the federal or state governments for these taxes and yet that's where it should be. The state has taken its responsibility for towns/cities and turned it over to local communities. It mandates how taxes are to be raised and for what purpose and how they are to be used. It's a state tax.
While reasons for declining revenues into state coffers receive the primary focus, little discussion is given to the primary culprit - tax reductions by the state & federal governments. The federal government has severely cut back on state support while putting forth more mandates which it doesn't fund. Every time the state cuts taxes, it leaves a hole in the budget which has to be filled somehow.
This has translated into more & more financial responsibility falling on local officials who have few ways to increase their income. Hence rising property taxes and fees. As the state-imposed cap declines every year, it's going to prove more and more difficult for local communities to pay for what they must.
Voters should take a harder look at their state legislators and ask them what they plan to do about this. Merely saying that they are seeking a new and "fairer" school aid policy just doesn't make it. Without saying where they plan to obtain these funds, they are just pandering to public sentiment & quick sound bites. The Lege could approve a much higher rate than they are now sharing but if they don't have the income, guess what? They will simply underfund. Heard that tune before? Think "No Child Left Behind."
While the guv bemoans high taxes and cuts many for the wealthy & corporations, he does zilch for property taxes. And this is what brings our overall taxrate up. It's the property taxes, Supid! Not the sales tax, or the estate tax, or the whatever tax.
So the next time you focus on your local council/committee member, ask the SAME questions to your local Sen./Rep. And don't let it stop there. Ask your fed'l Sen./Rep., "where's the beef?" This war we're currently fighting means minus funds for all of us here. We've lost funds from almost every segment of the federal budget that focus on we the people. And I, for one, would like it back!
Focus is primarily on School Boards & Town Councils. They set or determine the rates and as a result any increases focus on them. I see little responsibility aimed at the federal or state governments for these taxes and yet that's where it should be. The state has taken its responsibility for towns/cities and turned it over to local communities. It mandates how taxes are to be raised and for what purpose and how they are to be used. It's a state tax.
While reasons for declining revenues into state coffers receive the primary focus, little discussion is given to the primary culprit - tax reductions by the state & federal governments. The federal government has severely cut back on state support while putting forth more mandates which it doesn't fund. Every time the state cuts taxes, it leaves a hole in the budget which has to be filled somehow.
This has translated into more & more financial responsibility falling on local officials who have few ways to increase their income. Hence rising property taxes and fees. As the state-imposed cap declines every year, it's going to prove more and more difficult for local communities to pay for what they must.
Voters should take a harder look at their state legislators and ask them what they plan to do about this. Merely saying that they are seeking a new and "fairer" school aid policy just doesn't make it. Without saying where they plan to obtain these funds, they are just pandering to public sentiment & quick sound bites. The Lege could approve a much higher rate than they are now sharing but if they don't have the income, guess what? They will simply underfund. Heard that tune before? Think "No Child Left Behind."
While the guv bemoans high taxes and cuts many for the wealthy & corporations, he does zilch for property taxes. And this is what brings our overall taxrate up. It's the property taxes, Supid! Not the sales tax, or the estate tax, or the whatever tax.
So the next time you focus on your local council/committee member, ask the SAME questions to your local Sen./Rep. And don't let it stop there. Ask your fed'l Sen./Rep., "where's the beef?" This war we're currently fighting means minus funds for all of us here. We've lost funds from almost every segment of the federal budget that focus on we the people. And I, for one, would like it back!
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