No on sales tax

To the editor:

I recently received a letter of solicitation in support of the proposed sales tax. The group that sent it stated my current tax assessment values. The letter indicated I would save $2,761.74 each year by the reduction I would receive in property taxes if the current sales tax proposal passes. They had done some homework. I’m all for reducing taxes, so I did a little calculation. As it turns out, their homework needed correcting. I would be paying at least $4,500 more per year under this proposal.

One cannot afford to just pay taxes on property for very long without it producing revenue, or one becomes a slave to the property; hence, I have turned my lot into income-producing property. The rent I receive from the property would be subject to about three times more in sales taxes than the offered reduction in property tax. I figured the sales tax bill would be around $7,200 per year and I also get to be an unpaid tax collector for the borough. This sales tax isn’t just on my profits, it’s on gross revenues. It comes right off the top. That amount doesn’t include the additional costs for local goods and services that I purchase. So, how is it that my taxes are going to go down? 

Have you ever heard of a government that asked for less money next year? They can never control their spending no matter who is in office, so once they get an additional income stream, it will never go away, they’ll just find something else to waste it on. It will not end; we’ll just have two ways they can steal from us with the force of law. The way I see it, almost all taxes are a way to confiscate the fruits of our labors to provide benefits for someone else. I don’t want to give the borough more money, in fact, I want borough government reduced and its power to tax diminished. We, the voters, should be the ones deciding how much they can spend, not the other way around.

Although I think it’s immoral to confiscate one’s property for taxes, sales tax also has moral problems in that it often targets those who get no vote. The only way I would support a sales tax is if it: 1) completely eliminates property tax, 2) it offers exemptions for those who don’t live here, and 3) the rate cannot be changed except by super majority of voters in a regular election. I strongly oppose this current proposal.

Pat Marley

Wasilla