Property Taxes and Important Action Alert!
As I write this, I have not heard official word, but it looks like the citizens of Cincinnati will once again be able to vote on an issue to eliminate Cincinnati's property tax. The petition signatures were submitted and were earlier this week validated by the Board of Elections. The same question was on the ballot in 2004 and it failed by 3% (51.5% against vs 48.5% for). This will rollback the Cincinnati portion of the property tax over the next nine years until it is eliminated. The savings for the people and businesses in Cincinnati will be small (a $100,000 home will be taxed $100 less per year, and that is after 9 years) and the city of Cincinnati will gradually lose a small chunk of its revenue (less than 10% of the general fund), but I do think this could be a landmark issue if passed. I say that because I am a firm believer that permanent change does not happen overnight.
Consider this:
-In 1960, the income tax in Cincinnati was .5%. The sales tax was 3%. Now, the rates are 2.1% and 6.5% respectively. They were increased in small increments (usually .5% at a time). Keep in mind that people often consider the 1% income tax that Blue Ash has as a bargain.
-In 1935, the Social Security and Medicare taxes were 1% (with a 1% employer match). Now, they are 7.65% (with the same employer match).
In both cases, we got from here to there in a series of small increment increases.
And what has this brought for Cincinnati? Cincinnati was the 8th largest American city in 1900 with over 500,000. The 1970 census still had Cincinnati with over 500,000 citizens. The 2000 census has Cincinnati with 320,000 citizens. Soon , Toledo will be larger than Cincinnati. And yet, the entire Greater Cincinnati area is growing. It shows that people want to live in this area, yet, they want to stay out of the city.
For the city, this is giving abandoned buildings and run down houses (because the homeowners are leaving). This drives down property values and forces the city to raise other taxes, in order to keep its revenue.
For businesses, it means that they can be more profitable by leaving the city. Remember, a business will sometimes own its building. If not, they rent from somebody who does. If there is a property tax to pay, then it will be paid by the business, one way or the other. It directly affects the bottom line. If they can avoid that expense by moving to Clermont County, Harrison, or Northern Kentucky, you know they will do that. You won't hear about P&G or Fifth Third leaving over this tax (it would be too difficult for them to move), but an office with 5 employees can load up a U-haul and set up shop somewhere else in a matter of hours. You never hear about a business with 5 employees leaving the city. But remember, when 100 such businesses leave the city, that means we have 500 fewer jobs. That's a huge econimic impact, but it gets no attention.
It is time to undo this.
This property tax rollback will not save that much money. Yet, it is a rollback that city hall can afford. It took a long time, and lots of little victories for tax and spenders to get to be the big government we have today. If we don't start chipping away at it now, it will only continue to get larger, in small increments. This is a vital step in reversing this trend.
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As Libertarians, I often find it hard to get people to be active. I have learned that this is not unique to Libertarians, that is how a lot of politically minded people are. However, if there is one chance you have to be active, September 14 at 9:00am would be the time. The US 6th Circuit court of Appeals will be hearing our ballot access case.
Currently Ohio has some of the most restrictive ballot access laws in the country. In fact, it is easier to get on the ballot in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Russia than it is in Ohio. The Libertarian Party of Ohio is asking for a large Libertarian presence at our hearing. Judges are supposed to judge a case on the merits of the evidence, however, many of them can be swayed by a large presence in the court room.
It will be held at the Federal Courthouse, across the street from Fountain Square, in downtown Cincinnati. It will last less than an hour, so you can be back at work by lunch time.
Again, if there is only one chance for you to get your hands dirty and help out the party, this would be the perfect time.
Consider this:
-In 1960, the income tax in Cincinnati was .5%. The sales tax was 3%. Now, the rates are 2.1% and 6.5% respectively. They were increased in small increments (usually .5% at a time). Keep in mind that people often consider the 1% income tax that Blue Ash has as a bargain.
-In 1935, the Social Security and Medicare taxes were 1% (with a 1% employer match). Now, they are 7.65% (with the same employer match).
In both cases, we got from here to there in a series of small increment increases.
And what has this brought for Cincinnati? Cincinnati was the 8th largest American city in 1900 with over 500,000. The 1970 census still had Cincinnati with over 500,000 citizens. The 2000 census has Cincinnati with 320,000 citizens. Soon , Toledo will be larger than Cincinnati. And yet, the entire Greater Cincinnati area is growing. It shows that people want to live in this area, yet, they want to stay out of the city.
For the city, this is giving abandoned buildings and run down houses (because the homeowners are leaving). This drives down property values and forces the city to raise other taxes, in order to keep its revenue.
For businesses, it means that they can be more profitable by leaving the city. Remember, a business will sometimes own its building. If not, they rent from somebody who does. If there is a property tax to pay, then it will be paid by the business, one way or the other. It directly affects the bottom line. If they can avoid that expense by moving to Clermont County, Harrison, or Northern Kentucky, you know they will do that. You won't hear about P&G or Fifth Third leaving over this tax (it would be too difficult for them to move), but an office with 5 employees can load up a U-haul and set up shop somewhere else in a matter of hours. You never hear about a business with 5 employees leaving the city. But remember, when 100 such businesses leave the city, that means we have 500 fewer jobs. That's a huge econimic impact, but it gets no attention.
It is time to undo this.
This property tax rollback will not save that much money. Yet, it is a rollback that city hall can afford. It took a long time, and lots of little victories for tax and spenders to get to be the big government we have today. If we don't start chipping away at it now, it will only continue to get larger, in small increments. This is a vital step in reversing this trend.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As Libertarians, I often find it hard to get people to be active. I have learned that this is not unique to Libertarians, that is how a lot of politically minded people are. However, if there is one chance you have to be active, September 14 at 9:00am would be the time. The US 6th Circuit court of Appeals will be hearing our ballot access case.
Currently Ohio has some of the most restrictive ballot access laws in the country. In fact, it is easier to get on the ballot in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Russia than it is in Ohio. The Libertarian Party of Ohio is asking for a large Libertarian presence at our hearing. Judges are supposed to judge a case on the merits of the evidence, however, many of them can be swayed by a large presence in the court room.
It will be held at the Federal Courthouse, across the street from Fountain Square, in downtown Cincinnati. It will last less than an hour, so you can be back at work by lunch time.
Again, if there is only one chance for you to get your hands dirty and help out the party, this would be the perfect time.
posted by CincinnatiLibertarian at 11:24 PM
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