Taxes Part 1

I am reminded, as we grind our way towards election day, of how often we don’t discuss really important stuff but instead let ourselves be distracted by highly charged but meaningless phrases.

Take, for example, the argument about whether it is better to raise or lower taxes. Seems at first blush like this is an easy one. If taxes go up, we have less money to spend on things we want or need. If taxes go down, we keep more of our money. A seeming no-brainer.

But it’s not that simple. Start at the local level. I live in Portland, Maine. I pay state sales tax, property taxes, state income taxes, and federal income taxes. In addition there are restaurant taxes in Maine, beverage taxes, tolls on the interstate, lodging taxes, etc. I’m sure there are plenty of other fees and taxes (vehicle registration, drivers license fees, etc.) but you get the idea.

So let’s pretend, for fun, that tomorrow all these taxes were abolished. I’d get to keep a substantial amount of money that I currently give away. Nice!

But what would I lose? Offhand I can think of quite a few things. At the local level we’d have:

No police or fire department
No road maintenance or snow removal in the winter
No trash removal
No public schools
No summer rec programs for kids
No public library
No building inspections, workplace safety requirements, health department, public works dept., etc. (Eating out might get pretty dicey. All the traffic lights being red, or green, or out could make driving across town more challenging. No auto insurance requirements would make accidents a lot more complicated to sort out...)

Moving up to the county and state level:

No highway patrol so speed limits would be gone
Again no road, bridge, or highway maintenance or snow removal. (In Maine, that would pretty much shut down the state during the winter so no food coming in to our markets.)
All state programs would cease: child protective services, mental health programs, prisons, etc. etc.
No water treatment or sewage removal.

I could go on to the national level but you get the picture. I’ll just mention a couple that could make life way more adventuresome:

No air traffic control or required aircraft maintenance and safety inspections.
No military
No more regulation of food or drug safety, workplace safety, vehicle safety, etc.
No bank regulation—no wait, we tried that one recently...

I can’t speak for others, but I personally do not mind paying taxes so that I can get the benefits of these services. I have no desire to live in a town with no police or fire department. I don’t wish to drive on pot-holed roads and highways with no speed limits. I don’t want to fly in airplanes which are never inspected, in airspace where anyone can fly at whatever speed and altitude regardless of how many other aircraft are in the same part of the sky. I like my public library, and the parks. I like safe drinking water and flush toilets. I don’t want to eat contaminated food. The world is not a safe place and not everyone on the planet wishes us well, so having a well-trained and well-equipped military is prudent.

Higher vs. lower taxes is not the same as a discussion of good vs. evil, although one might think it was from the tone of campaign rhetoric. For me, however, the important question is what I get for the taxes I pay. Are my tax dollars being spent wisely or foolishly? Invested so that I get benefits, or wasted?

So let’s take one concrete example: drinking water. (For some history, here’s a link.) Waterborne illnesses are often fatal and in developing countries—as well as in some poor corners of the USA—these diseases cause “an estimated 4 billion episodes of diarrhea resulting in an estimated 2 million deaths, mostly among children. Waterborne bacterial infections may account for as many as half of these episodes and deaths.” (CDC)

So I personally am okay with having some of my tax dollars go to providing safe clean drinking water for me, my neighbors, and you and your neighbors. Seems much better than dysentery (I got dysentery a couple of times when I was in the Peace Corps in Senegal. Take my word for it—a fever of almost 105 is not something you forget or wish to repeat), or cholera, or E coli.


To be continued...