Portune's alternative proposal for new jail tax

August 21, 2006

MOTION

Amend Property Tax Resolution to Convert Property Tax Reduction to a Sales Tax Reduction

I MOVE that the attached Resolution be amended to convert the proposed property tax reduction to a sales tax reduction

_____________________
Todd Portune

Statement
As it stands the existing proposed plan would reduce property taxes for a select group of county taxpayers at the expense of the majority who do not own real estate. It amounts to a massive shift in the tax burden onto the backs of children, the poor and the middle class. It creates the likelihood of opposition to the proposal at the polls.
The goal of keeping taxes below the rate of inflation is commendable and can be met a different way that avoids this problem. By converting the reduction to a sales tax reduction all taxpayers benefit.
Moreover, this change also addresses a key complaint voiced by supporters of the jail. The property tax reduction proposed will benefit those absentee landlords who are contributing to blight and crime in neighborhoods. We should not give a tax break to the very people who are compounding the crime that communities are fighting.