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IMHO: 2010 ballot questions
Oct. 21st, 2010 03:15 pmAs you may have gathered from an inordinate number of ads, there's an election coming up. I'm going to start with the ballot questions, and how I'll likely be voting on them:
Question 1: Should the sales tax on alcohol which is already subject to excise taxes be removed?
Double taxation? Yes, remove the extra tax. If the cost of enforcing alcohol-related issues is not currently covered by the excise tax, then justify and raise the excise tax.
Question 2: Should we get rid of simple single permits ("40B") for contractors building subsidized low-income housing?
No. We don't need micromanaging stacks of bureaucracy; we just need proper oversight of current codes.
(BTW: even the summaries of this proposal are dense with legalese.)
Question 3: Knock the sales tax down to 3%?
Yes. Contrary to its proponents' claims, this will not save the average MA household $900 each year, as the big loser in the state budget is going to be aid to cities and towns, which will have to make up for it with higher property taxes. But that's okay, because Prop 2 1/2 requires these cities and towns to put up ballot items to get permission from the citizenry to do so. This repeal protects local control of budgets.
Question 1: Should the sales tax on alcohol which is already subject to excise taxes be removed?
Double taxation? Yes, remove the extra tax. If the cost of enforcing alcohol-related issues is not currently covered by the excise tax, then justify and raise the excise tax.
Question 2: Should we get rid of simple single permits ("40B") for contractors building subsidized low-income housing?
No. We don't need micromanaging stacks of bureaucracy; we just need proper oversight of current codes.
(BTW: even the summaries of this proposal are dense with legalese.)
Question 3: Knock the sales tax down to 3%?
Yes. Contrary to its proponents' claims, this will not save the average MA household $900 each year, as the big loser in the state budget is going to be aid to cities and towns, which will have to make up for it with higher property taxes. But that's okay, because Prop 2 1/2 requires these cities and towns to put up ballot items to get permission from the citizenry to do so. This repeal protects local control of budgets.
