Taking a closer look at ‘silent’ taxes

This year is almost over. A few weeks from now, we’ll be writing

2003 on our checks and wondering, with Villon, “Where are the snows

of yesteryear?” or, more plainly put, where did this past year go?

It’s time to make up new pages for my journal so I can watch how

quickly money goes out. Sometimes it stays in my accounts barely long

enough to make a slight impression, but I like to know how much we

receive and where we spend it. It gives me the illusion of being in

control.

Some of my journal sheets cover a two-year period, to allow me to

compare costs from one year to the next. On others, I note such

things as therms, kilowatts, interest, taxes, etc. The other day I

added up all the taxes listed on the various journal sheets and I was

astounded how much I paid in these “silent taxes” over the past year.

Take a look at your utility bills, your telephone bill, your

cable-TV bill, your cell-phone bill and your water and sewer bill.

They all have a 5% tax listed, taxes that are collected by the

company that provides the service and usually banked for five or six

months (collecting interest, of course), then forwarded (minus bank

interest and a service charge) to the tax collector. You didn’t vote

on these taxes, but you pay them when you pay your bill, and you

can’t deduct them from your income tax bill, either.

I know what the gas, electric and telephone companies are giving

me for my money, but what is the county giving me? I’ve never seen a

county truck on site to replace a broken telephone pole. And it isn’t

the county that comes out to fix a broken water line when we run into

a mishap that sends water flooding into the street. So why do we pay

the county for telephones and water?

And look at the amount of tax added to the price of gasoline. Now,

I know they say the money is to be used for upkeep on our highways,

but I wonder why our roads are in such poor shape when we are driving

more than we ever did before. Every time the price of gasoline goes

up, they collect more in taxes. A suggestion that they lower the

taxes on gasoline to help people on fixed or low incomes caused a

government gasp that was darned near ear-shattering. How could we

even think of such a thing!

We have voted ourselves some taxes, believing we could afford the

few dollars for a good purpose. Take, for instance, the tax for the

county Fire Department, which started out at only $13.99. Some 13

years later, it has increased to $52.93, more than 278% increase. I

wish my pay went up that fast, don’t you?

And the unified school tax went up 43.46% in six years. The

library tax appears to be about the only one holding the line. It

started out in 1995 at $22 and rose over eight years to only $23.79.

My hat is off to the administrative staff for holding the line at

about 1%.

I like libraries, always have. I appreciate having them in our

community. I am neither for nor against building a new library, but I

would like to see the question of whether we should build it on the

next ballot. Not an elaborate statement of position, just one little

sentence calling for a yes or no answer: Would you be willing to pay

for a new library?

Taxpayers should know where the money is going to come from. We

are told funds have been earmarked, but exactly what that means is

vague. Do they have the money, or has it been promised to them? Is it

enough to build the library or just a piece of land on which they

might some day build a library? Would it be better to buy the

property to the south of the current library and extend downward,

keeping the current building but adding another level?

At a time when severe budget cuts are going to have to be made,

cuts that will put people out of work and cause those who retain

their jobs to see their incomes slip below the cost of living, they

should have the opportunity to say “no” to some expenditures.

Balancing the budget on the backs of public employees is

reprehensible.

Not long ago, there was a huge disagreement between the Irvine

community and Orange County supervisors about whether an airport

should be built on property ceded to Irvine by the federal

government, property that had been a Marine air base. A group of

concerned taxpayers took action to put the issue before the

electorate. The electorate said “no” to the airport. They wanted

their tax money for parks, and that is what they are going to get.

I believe people in our area deserve the same opportunity to vote

on expen- ditures that the people of Irvine had.

* JERRY LANE is a resident of La Crescenta and a regular

contributor to Community Forum. He can be reached at

jerry5733@aol.com.