Who Really Pays Property Tax?

There is one issue in Albany that tends to divide us easily, when it really should not. The issue is property taxes and who pays them. I am almost certain this posting will upset many that I consider to be allies in the fight for growth and change in our fair city, in particular The Dougherty County Taxpayers Association, a group I support. They serve as a much needed "watchdog" on local elected and employed public officials of Southwest Georgia. Albany is fortunate to have such an organization out there.

I am always open to learning something new on the subject of property taxes, or anything else for that matter, that could change my perspective. I am sure that if I am off base in my comments here, DCTA leader, Richard Thomas or other members of that group I consider friends, will constructively point out how far off the mark I am.

My understanding is that many land owners in Albany are quick to point out that they carry the lion's share of the property tax burden paid into the city treasury, while the large number of citizens that do not own land, a majority of the total population, pay nothing. That distinction serves to polarize our already polarized community, and it should not.

I make the case that all of us pay property taxes, whether you actually own property or not. I am confident that if you pay rent on a home or a place of business, the taxes paid by the landlord on that particular parcel, are a factor in setting your monthy rent. It is the primary reason that rents tend to drift up over time. Taxes rarely go down, and therefore rent payments never do either. The land owner may be the one responsible to the city for the taxes, but that cost is passed along to their tennants, along with every other cost to maintain and manage the property.

It is a straw horse to stake political ground on the belief that only land owners have any skin in the game when it comes to how our local tax dollars are spent. That's just not true. Everyone that lives here pays into the system, through sales taxes, fees, and indirectly, even property taxes. We have plenty of things that truly do divide us in Albany that we need to address. This should not be one of them.

Check Please!

(Again straying from purely local matters, but it's the only established soap box I have.)

One of the most distructive moves our government ever made, was the decision to withdraw our tax dollars from our paychecks, before we get the money. This was done in order to save a lot of paperwork, red tape, and government beaurocracy in the collecting of taxes due, and to make certain they got their money first, right off the top. Setting aside the debate until the end of this rant on just what is and is not the role of state and federal governments, take out your calculator and do the math.

Pretend it is a receipt after a trip to Wal-Mart. Add it up. Did you get your money's worth of freedom and other government offerings during the last pay period? There are four "Statutory Deductions".

The first line item is simply the Federal Income Tax. According to The Tax Foundation's web site, "In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the Constitution made the income tax a permanent fixture in the U.S. tax system. The amendment gave Congress legal authority to tax income and resulted in a revenue law that taxed incomes of both individuals and corporations." In other words, this governing body gave itself 'legal authority' to take a percentage of our wages, so that it's own institutions and control of our society could grow. By providing this new and huge source of funding, their projects and programs, in particular those items for back home that would most certainly help them retain their seat, could be secured. Money is power, and they wanted more power, so they took more money.

Next is the Social Security Tax. The concept seems sound enough, although a bit patronizing. They, the government, take a percentage of your money from you now, hold it, and then let you get it back when you are too old to work, or have some sort of life altering circumstance. The only problem is that the Social Security Trust Fund, where your money is placed, has been dipped into so many times to fund our ever-growing federal government that there is nothing left to pay you back with. The money being paid out today on this and other programs is borrowed money, taking us even further into debt than we already are.

So far, how do these two deductions on your paycheck sound to you? Are you satisfied with the service? Is it a good investment of your hard-earned dollar? Are you like me, looking for the manager to complain about the tab and the quality of service, demanding a refund or at the very least a coupon for one free month of freedom?

Third on the list is the Medicare Tax. Why not just combine the total of all three items under the first line item? It's all going to DC. Think of all the money we would save on ink alone. But, the Medicare Tax is basically our national health care program where those of us with insurance, and the ability to take care of ourselves, pump money into a fund to help cover medical and other costs of our fellow citizens that need extra help. Glad to do it. No problem, but I've got an even better idea. Everyone save these dollars and help your neighbors, or those in your own hometown as the needs arise. Take Uncle Sam, the bloated and expensive middleman, out of the mix. That's bound to save a huge chunk of doe.

Finally, there is the State Income Tax. I'm not a big fan of any income taken from me before I get it, but of the four, this one I have the least problem with. Our founders believed that the most ethical and effective government, and thereby the one with the most power (read money), should be the one closest to the people. You know, "We the people"? Ring a bell?

So, if we were true to our system, most of our tax money should first go to our local governments to address specific and urgent needs of our individual communities, then to the states, and then, as the definition of a federalist form of government implies, the states delegate to the federal government, it's powers. Of all three forms of government, the federal government is suppose to be the one with the least impact on our lives. It's sole purpose is to unite our states in mutual defense and international affairs. It is not suppose to be the fix-all for every social ill we face. That is our responsibility as individuals, communities, and states. Today however, we have allowed our nation to evolve into a nationalist form of government. That's not healthy, and certainly about as far removed from the 'we the people' concept as you can get.

We are over paying for a system that is upside down, and ineffective. At some point , do we simply run the numbers and make a calculated business decision that we are not getting our money's worth? If so, the most logical way to proceed is to start electing men and women that are not afraid to complain to the management about the check, and get our money back....or a boatload of coupons.

Albany's Stubborn Ignorance

Everyone can be stubborn and or ignorant. Many things can cause us to behave stubbornly. Being ignorant about something does not imply stupidity, but simply a lack of knowledge. I am totally ignorant about car maintenance, beyond checking fluids and tire pressure. Ignorance is a deficit that can be filled with information and education, but you have to want it.

What happens if you are ignorant on an important matter, and your feelings of insecurity make you defensive about it and even paranoid? You may find yourself stubbornly defending your own ignorance, refusing to grow in knowledge, settling for a lesser position in life simply as a matter of pride. Refusing to admit there is something you don't know, and perhaps even boasting that you don't need to know what you know you should know, only magnifies your ignorance, making the situation even worse. I cannot think of a more helpless, self-inflicted way to lose in life, than to be stubbornly ignorant. For expediency in these fast paced times, let's just go with "SI" for short. Albany is a SI place to live these days.

We suffer from this more than we should, and it seems like recently it's only grown worse. Many of our young people have come to believe that their lack of an education and a good job is the fault of someone else, and the system is stacked against them, so why bother? Many of us have a hard time seeing a better future for ourselves, so we lower our goals to simply living for the weekend, when we know deep down that is not the best course to take. Those that serve the community in local government, and on various boards, seem to be more inclined to take the SI approach and dig in their heels with positions that fly in the face of common sense. They very rarely admit to a mistake, a shortcoming in experience, or a lack of knowledge on legal and proper procedures. Left unchecked, the SI leadership of Albany will continue to make foolish, short-sighted, politically correct but poor decisions that only serve to lower the standards, and drive away more and more people that want something better from the place they call home.

The most recent example of SI leadership is the ridiculous "finalist" list for Dougherty County School System Superintendent position being vacated by Dr. Sally Whatley. If there is only one name on the list, why is he, Dr. Joshua Murfree, even referred to as a finalist? It's silly, and it makes Albany look more like Hooterville than the hub of Southwest Georgia that it is. Those members of the Dougherty County School Board that voted for Dr. Murfree as the only "finalist", (two did not), should be ashamed of their action. It reeks of favoritism, particularly to select someone that was so poorly ranked under the search criteria. It shows our school board as a collection of folks that need to go back to school themselves before they start trying to make decisions about our children's education.

Another issue of late has been the controversy over the multi-million dollar transit facility being pushed and pushed hard, by City Manager Al Lott. If the concerns raised over this project by the local media and citizens are unfounded as Lott says, then why did the Federal government, that has no problem wastefully spending money it does not have, pull the plug on the project? Is Lott saying the Federal government is wrong too? If there is any SI mixed in with this problem, it is coming from the City Manager's office. They have mastered the art of defending foolish positions and still keeping their jobs.

I'm sure these leaders of our community will continue to take the SI stand, and keep doing what they do, fully expecting the hard working people of Albany, too busy just trying to pay the bills, to give this more that a passing complaint. Maybe not. Just maybe the days of SI governance is seeing it's end in Albany. Old ways of doing business could find themselves up against the new media and a more informed public. It will still take action on the part of the citizens to stop the SI express from running away with our future, but knowledge is power. We just have to use it.

Waiting On The Economy

I'm in advertising sales here in Albany with WFXL. When you are in sales, particularly in a bad economy, and in a community that has been hit extra hard like Albany, you hear all sorts of reasons why a business has decided to hold off doing any advertising. It can be frustrating because both of you know that without a good advertising program, they are likely to lose business to any competitor that is still getting the word out, which only adds to the bottom line concerns.

Some reasons make sense, and it's just a matter of working with that business owner or manager over the long haul to help in anyway you can. Other comments can be a bit more curious as to what is really behind them. There is one we hear more and more of, and it's still a little amusing when we do....just a little; "I'm waiting on the economy to pick up."

This implies that 'the economy' is something removed from their own reality, when in fact, they are the economy. It's like a restuarant owner saying, "We're waiting on someone else to cook your meal, then we will bring it to your table." The economy will only get better when everyone decides to do their part to make it better, and not simply survive it. Good times in a free capitalist society only come about when decision makers step out of their comfort zone and push the ball forward. Today it appears that many are standing back, waiting for someone else to be the first horse out the gate. It is a surrender of the lead position in exchange for a stagnant but still insecure place in the race.

I'm not advocating business plans that are irresponsible and highly risky. That's how we got in a lot of the mess we are in. But bold, well thought out business development and marketing strategies are the realm of the leaders, and the rewards as always, will go to those willing to work the hardest, without waiting on the other guy to move first.

Albany has a lot of potential. It's there and it's tangible. In a market like this, and a time like now, it is only going to take those businesses that are proactive and visionary enough to get their mesage out, a little extra effort to make all the difference in their success ratio. As my father use to say, "When everyone else is afraid to turn on their lights, it's easy to shine."

The next time you feel inclined to think or say, "I'm waiting on things to get better" just remember, that making things better is just as much your responsibility as it is that of  the government or big corporations. What happens to your business tomorrow is mostly in your hands, not someone else's. It is 'the economy, stupid', and we are it.

The Class Project Worth Repeating

I know I've seen this particular "propaganda" email floating about more than once or twice, but it's simplisity in these seemingly complex and difficult times is worth reposting here, and sharing again with others. There's no way to know if it's a recounting of an actual college classroom experiment, I doubt it. But, it does reveal a stark truth about the human condition, and why even the most well-intentioned politician or social engineer will always fail at any effort to bring about equality of results through socialism or some other collective form of government. It goes something like this.

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had once failed an entire class. That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on a socialist plan". All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little. The second test average was a D! No one was happy.

When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F. The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

Could not be any simpler than that.