The Readers: Sex Vaccines, Sex Changes, Sex Taxes... Whoops, Sorry. PROPERTY Taxes

Obviously my column this morning about vaccinating middle-school girls against a sexually transmitted but potentially deadly virus was so reasonable that few readers could disagree. One who did said it strongly:

When you can identify and publish even a single good outcome from teenage sexual activity, then support for these shots may be forthcoming. Until then I will continue to teach my children that bad decisions have bad outcomes, therefore, don't do it. It IS that simple.

The comments are split on whether to fire Largo City Manager and announced transsexual Steve Stanton. One in the affirmative:

[H]aving some libertarian leanings myself, I think Stanton should be able to do whatever he wants with his body. However, this tolerance does NOT mean society or anyone else must accept him.

And folks are still chipping in on Florida's tax structure. A reader named Jane says:

I know this is a very unpopular opinion, but the only real solution to FL's tax problem is to cap local property taxes severely (or do away with them as proposed) and start collecting a state income tax.

I have been starting to wonder about that myself, Jane. Traditionally, talking about an income tax in Florida has been suicidal, but if it were limited enough and sold as part of an overall fair tax reform... sorry. Lost my head for a second.

Lastly, this from Warren Eisenhower of Pinellas County:

No wonder property taxes here are so high, 23 [24, actually] cities and one county government... It is expensive, duplicative and inefficient... All that is needed is one overall county government that can be held accountable. How did such a catastrophe occur, who let it happen?

The trouble, Warren, is that most if not all of those burgs would rather go to war than give up their status as a city. It's not just a financial question, but political and even emotional, with a huge distrust of a centralized government. "Consolidation" has been a dirty word in Pinellas politics for a long time.

Comments

[Del C Revels]

Good Evening Howard:

Knowing that you have the ability to cut right to the heart of a subject, I would like to envite you to take a look at the Federal airport screeners.
Every time I talk with an out-of-country visitor I always hear of horror stories. The latest for example was when a feeble mother and daughter were coming in at the Tampa International A.P. when the screener separated them and told the mother to "get over there" as they prepared to give the elderly lady a full pat down. Another case of a well-off gentleman who had been to the U S 4 times in a short period--the screener refused him entry And last, a lady was giving a difficult time on entry--she had a U S Passport--dual English citizenship
Compare that with our border crossing (my wife and I) from the Israel town of Eilat into the Sinai Pensulr--Egypt
Shortly after we passed through the screeners, a couple of young ladies approached and courteously asked if they could speak with us a minute. Agreeing to their request, we sat down with them and within 10 minutes had answered all their questions about the border crossing and assured them "we had been treated respectfully"
Can we imagine that happening in Tampa?--although somewhere in the terminal there is posted how persons should be treated.
I suggest these Federal employees be given a lengthy course on courtesy together with "feed back cards" to be returned to some manager.

[Senor]

Someone needs to pull up Steve Stanton's dress and give him a good spankin. Largo is a consistent community.

[SWLiP]

Income taxes are highly inefficient; i.e., they require a top-heavy bureaucracy to collect. Also, incomes taxes are not taxes on wealth, which means that a disproportionate number of wealthy Florida residents would pay little to no income tax.

I am one who disagrees that transactional taxes are regressive. Since they tax consumption, those who consume more (presumably, those with more wealth) would pay more taxes.

I would think that liberals would be in favor of taxing consumption and, by the way, encouraging savings.

Also, transactional taxes would more evenly disburse the tax burden among those who benefit from state infrastructure, including tourists, seasonal residents, etc.

Good points SWLip,

Since basic food/shelter items are tax exempt how exactly would low income earners be paying a disproportionate amount of sales tax As compared to a wealthy Floridian?

Don't remember a low income earner out there there buying yachts or $100,000 sports cars....

Think all this class warfare stuff just clouds the issue...that home owners and business owners bare the brunt of funding schools and social programs at the County/City level and that their taxes are WAY outta whack.

[John Gibson]

Being in the tax field myself, I can tell you that any tax plan will negatively affect someone, whether it is a sales tax, income tax or property tax. Someone, somewhere, will not like it and will think it unfair that they have to pay it.

Income taxes are very complex and very expensive to administer. Property taxes endanger people's homes as values rise disproportionately with an owner's earning power.

Grabbing from the wealthy simply because they have it may be popular, but it is about as unfair and un-American as it gets. The rich and the poor should each pay their share. No one should get a free ride.

I favor a sales tax (state and federal) because it is by nature not complex, easy to administer and the least regressive taxation plan I am aware of. People spend in proportion to their earning power.

It is also the least prone to manipulation and evasion. It spreads the tax burden to those who visit the state and consume its resources. I would be in favor of some exemptions for basic necessities such as food, power and health care, but not much else.

For those who think taxes are too high in general, I would tend to agree. However, the only clear path to lower taxes is lower spending.

Apply pressure to the government to spend less and lower taxes will follow. Constantly shifting around the tax burden according to the prevailing political winds solves nothing.

[SWLiP]

John:

Agreed. Not many people realize that the U.S. government was able to carry out all of its constitutional functions for nearly a century and a half without an income tax.

I think that sales tax exemptions would make sense for basic food-stuffs (milk, eggs, bread, etc.) but not for highly processed foods.