Taxes

I attended both forums on the Dover Tax Cap initiative. In the first one moderated by Councilor David Scott, he laid out the ground rules and how it was an information gathering event for citizens paneled by: himself, three Dover city employees and four guests from Franklin and Laconia (including two mayors), who had experience of a tax cap in their communities. It was therefore balanced with those from the private sector who pay taxes to government and those from municipal government who increase their ranks and compensation through tax hikes and whose earnings are the result of taxes. Two of the first people to break the ground rules and start the ball rolling toward mild anarchy were the tax and spend liberals Betsey Andrews Parker and Mr. Glenn Grasso himself, who felt that they should grandstand rather than ask questions. And no cap opponents asked a question of the Dover staff. The audience was packed with Dover city union employees, some of whom also threw their rhetorical weight around with great melodrama, and warnings of doom, generating far more heat than light.

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The second, calmer forum, run by unlimited spending advocate Mayor Scott Myers had six panelists all from state agencies and local government; people whose compensation increases and whose jobs are more secure when taxes go up not down. This is objectivity he says, not stacking the deck to achieve a desired outcome. There were no private sector representatives and no one who’d personally experienced first-hand a tax cap…how helpful.  He then coached the panelists how to respond when he felt the need.

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On the same day that Foster’s ran its editorial against the tax cap, the Union Leader editorialized in favor of it. On Thursday, Foster’s editor publishes an unhinged, "infuriated" diatribe playing the class warfare demagogue’s card, then denying it in the next paragraph…truly embarrassing.  As if renters don’t pay increased rent when landlords’ property taxes go up. Foster’s editor must really believe all its readers are dupes.

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Doug,
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I thought I’d share with you a column I’ve submitted to the Foster’s Daily Democrat regarding the proposed tax cap in Dover.  I know you’ll never agree with me, but at least you can see where I’m coming from.

Opposing the Tax Cap Proposal in Dover, NH

by Ron Tunning

No one enjoys paying higher taxes, and it’s safe to say that everyone would prefer a lower tax bill. That is why ideas such as the tax cap being proposed in Dover garner immediate public support. But if voters are honest with themselves they’ll oppose the measure.

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Let’s be frank. We all know “there’s no such thing as a free lunch“, and experience has taught us that “you get what you pay for.” Those maxims should guide us as we evaluate the sensibility of imposing a tax cap.

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So, too, should careful consideration of the methodology proposed for determining how much municipal spending will be permitted to rise. The Dover plan mirrors the language adopted in Franklin and Laconia, limiting the annual increase in spending to the annual rise in the U.S. Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index (CPI). After all, proponents of the tax cap argue, why should the cost of government rise more rapidly than the costs of consumer goods?

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Angry with himself

Executive Councilor Raymond Wieczorek wants to take another look at the turnpike toll hikes he helped vote into place.

"I thought about it, and then said, ‘What the heck am I doing in voting for something like this, when I give them $8 million more than they asked for?’ I’ve got a problem with it."

Wieczorek said he was not under any political pressure to change his vote. "I hardly had any phone calls here at all, he said. "I’m just angry with myself."

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Lynch and the Democrats in Concord need to prove to taxpayers that they can be responsible custodians of the state’s finances before they can collect more of our hard-earned dollars.

He’s sending it to the wrong people!

#96A      Authorize to increase the rate of toll at Hooksett, Bedford, Dover and Rochester Mainlines by 25 cents for single rear tire vehicles (classes 1-4) and by 50 cents for duel rear tire vehicles (classes 5-12).  (2)Further authorize the Commissioner to increase the rate of toll at Hampton State Toll by 50 cents for single rear tire vehicles (classes 1-4) and by $1.00 for dual rear tire vehicles (classes 5-12), in accordance with RSA 237:9 and RSA 237:40.  Effective at 12:01 a.m. on October 22, 2007

Could it be because the two Republicans still left on the Governor’s Council are planning to vote in favor of the increase?

How about it, Fergus? Will you be sending the petitions to Mr. Burton and Mr. Wieczorek for their consideration?

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The state needs to examine how it is spending its existing highway construction money before talking about raising more revenue, Gov. John Lynch says.

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"We have to be more disciplined," Lynch said Wednesday. "We can’t do everything, nor should we do everything."

"Before we consider the need for additional revenue- which I don’t think is there- we need to manage the funds today, which we are not doing well."

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