Blood Sugar Tax Magik

I should win some kind of prize for the title of this post. Anyway, I am glad to see the tax break for senior citizens may be widened, but I think it should be widened to include everyone who pays property taxes, not just those over a under a certain level of income.

What really irks me is when the desire to give seniors a tax break is rationalized based on the fact that seniors do not have children in the public school system, and therefore do not cost the government as much money as younger folks do. I have to wonder if those who make that argument understand the theory behind public education or any other government provided service. The idea is not to have only those who consume the services pay for them. The idea is to have everyone pay an equal share for all services. I am paying for schools that I am receiving no direct benefit from as a childless taxpayer, but I am happy to pay since I see the societal benefit of public education (just to clarify- I think the County should provide school vouchers, but that is a rant for another time.) Similarly, younger people with children generally do not use emergency medical services as frequently as older folks do. Again, that is fine because young people will be old someday and consume more than their fair share of ambulatory care.

Additionally, the article brings up a good point when it mentions that there is concern over how the tax cut will be logistically carried out. In other words, it will be a costly administrative hassle to figure out which seniors or which renters should get the tax break. If I lie and say that I am an 80 year old making $10,000 a year, how will anyone catch me? I would be surprised and appalled if the Maryland Comptroller is sharing income information with the SDAT. So, when compliance costs are factored in, there is deadweight loss in the tax cut. A $1 drop in revenues will not add $1 to the collective pool of seniors who qualify for the tax cut since some unknown percentage of that dollar will be eaten up in additional administrative costs incurred by the County.

If the County wants to offer a tax break, they are effectively admitting that citizens are being “over charged” in taxes. I applaud the County in it’s humility for admitting it is screwing us, but at the same time I admonish the County for being so discriminatory with the corrective measures.