Should MATC Tax Increase Be Linked To Money Wasted On Fast Food?

A comment today on my blog made me a bit concerned that some are taking too lightly the referendum request from MATC that will appear on the ballot this November.   Before I get to the main point about the comment, and why I think it ‘rich’, I need to make something very clear.

Some of the needs as expressed in the Master Facilities plan for MATC should be applauded and supported.  I have read it, and think some ideas most worthy.  But it was those items such as tearing down the Mitby Theater, in order to build another, but smaller one which leaves a lot of taxpayers wondering all sorts of important questions.    Though this item has been removed from the budget request for Phase One of the project, there is no doubt these matters will be up for taxpayers to deal with down the road.  This piece-meal approach is designed to get everything MATC wants at some point.

Education is vital to our country, and supporting it with taxes is the correct thing to do.  But being smart in how we support education is equally important.

This tax increase request by MATC  is not politically well-timed.  I have argued that these are days when too many folks are trying to pay the mortgage and struggle with part-time jobs and therefore is not the time to ask for a tax increase.  

The part of the comment that really made me a bit angry was this paragraph.

At the same time, what you failed to convey in your write up is that the total tax burden–for the year–would be an average of about $27.62 for a home owner with a home valued at roughly $200k. Twenty-seven dollars and some change. How much money does that average home owner waste on junk food in a year? The tax increase would be money invested–not simply “spent”–on real returns and employment opportunities in our communities.

Well…..

What is the average property tax bill for a $200,000 home in Oregon? Waunakee? Madison? What is the rate increase from last year? What is the average over-all tax bill for the residents of these places from all taxing bodies? Pick three places from any of the counties that are impacted with this referendum. What was the average increase in wages for the taxpayers in the last year in these places?

Consider that Madison schools was forced to cut deep into their budget this past year, and more cuts will be needed down the road.  Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk’s 2011 budget is hard pressed not to make cuts in social service programs.  We also know that Madison’s budgeted borrowing is more than three times as much as it was 10 years ago, and that will have an impact on taxpayers if something isn’t done.

It is not difficult to see why I think the MATC proposed tax increase could not take place at a worse time.

These are all factors that the voters who are being asked for more money will consider when casting a ballot.  After all MATC is not the only one asking for taxes!

I mention all this as I think it ‘rich’ to label another tax increase as somehow easy to pay for. There are lots of elderly people, and others who work two or three jobs, that think another tax increase right now is just not the best thing for their personal budget. There is an elitist tone of making it sound so easy to pay for.   As such I want you to consider the following.

Why don’t you ask the elderly person who wonders if they should pay the heating bill or get the needed meds that may now be all their responsibility with the ‘donut hole’?   How much does another $27.00 mean to them on top of the other taxes they already pay?   If memory serves me right those on Social Security did not get an increase last year…just to add frosting to the junk food idea.

It is one thing to be pro-education.  I hope we all are.  But to make the tax increase issue seem a mere drop in the bucket only makes voters see red.