The Proper Marketing of New Taxes : Politicians have to be careful when they ask for more from the taxpayer

In the effort to tax everything that moves, blinks or even exists, public officials in these hard-pressed times have to be careful to avoid looking ridiculous.

Late this week the Port Hueneme City Council may have crossed over the line. It imposed a special tax on beachside residents, based on their views and their access to the beach.

Not surprisingly, hundreds of beach-area residents objected strenuously, pointing out that their property taxes were already high because of their proximity to the golden sands. They called the special assessment, up to $184 a year, nothing less than a “view tax.” Some wondered whether there would be a rebate for fog.

For its part, the doubtless well-intentioned Port Hueneme City Council was simply looking for a way to cover the rising cost of keeping the local beach clean. Its problem was virtually a paradigm for government throughout California at all levels--from Sacramento on down to, well, Port Hueneme (population 20,319).

The challenge for politicians will be to exercise their taxing authority in a way that balances the budget but also doesn’t upset common sense. Gov. Pete Wilson, for instance, was said to propose a sales-tax approach over an income-tax approach in part because of its relative consumer acceptability.

Unfortunately, the members of the Port Hueneme City Council chose to go the other way. They selected a tax--a “view tax,” to boot--that couldn’t have been more visible. More than 200 beach-area homeowners crowded into a recent meeting in protest. That’s a turnout that any politician, under ordinary circumstances, would welcome. Not this time.

Whatever their economic equity--and there are good arguments on both sides--such taxes are a mistake politically. They feed the mindless anti-tax movement that would bury California’s head in the sand and decimate its ability to respond to social and economic problems with properly funded programs. They feed the public’s cynicism about politics in general. And they raise the unfortunate suspicion that public officials in general may not be that smart.