newsnews

Twice-a-year taxes done to hide hikes

By Letter to the editor
Published: December 30, 2008

» 0 Comments | Post a Comment

Editor:

As the warden in the movie “Cool Hand Luke” remarked, “What we have here is a failure to communicate.”

What the Madison County Board of Supervisors and the county [administrator], wanted to communicate, I think, is that a bitter pill is easier to swallow when cut in half. These semiannual [tax] payments are their way of telling you — the citizenry and taxpayer — that taxes can only continue to spiral upwards, and that the only way they will be able to push them higher and get them paid, is if you don’t get one big bill, once a year.

This is like what happened with your federal and state income taxes. Before World War II, taxes were paid once a year. Then President Roosevelt told the American people that to aid the war effort, taxes would be collected whenever an individual drew a paycheck.

If you had to pay these income taxes once a year, do you think the rates and dollars collected would be as high as they are?
The more things change, the more things stay the same.

Joe May
Fairfax and Etlan