Who doesn't like to see his taxes lowered?
Most of the time the tax bill goes the other direction. It's always a pleasant -- and rare -- surprise when the tax man cometh and asketh for less money.
Taxes aren't evil. Every one of us enjoys the benefits of taxation, or more accurately, the resulting expenditures government makes. Don't we want a sheriff's deputy to show up when we dial 911? Aren't we glad when our gravel road is maintained by the county road department?
We certainly have no love affair with taxation in these United States. But we do generally recognized them as a necessity when they empower government to take care of the fundamental services only government can take care of. In cities and towns, for example, who else is going to make sure our environment isn't polluted when we flush our commodes?
To give critics of taxation the benefit of a doubt, it's certainly possible they're not saying taxes as a whole are evil, but that overtaxation is. And that is where it becomes an eye-of-the-beholder sort of issue. Some taxpayers may believe it's good for their taxes to be spent on a mass transit system, for example. Other taxpayers may feel like that's a luxury item government and the community can do without. There's certainly room for debate on what represents the correct level of taxation for any level of government.
And debate is what happened recently at a meeting of the Washington County Quorum Court. It is that time of year when our elected county leaders are required by law to establish a level of property taxation for the approaching new year. At its Nov. 18 meeting, the Quorum Court voted 9-6 against lowering the county's property tax millage from 4.4 mills to 4.2 miles.
That might come as a surprise to those who know the Washington County Quorum Court has a majority membership of Republicans, a party whose slogans often center on support for less government and lower taxes. Again, who can be against that in general? Knock on anyone's door and ask if they favor lower taxes and everyone will be in agreement. But ask them if they favor lower taxes when it will mean the road in front of their house will be maintained less frequently, and people have to think about that trade off.
The practice of cutting taxes is much harder than the sloganeering. Doing so without the proper preparation is like a surgeon cutting into a patient with no X-ray or MRI results. It might turn out OK, but it may also cause unnecessary damage.
At that Quorum Court meeting, Justice of the Peace Lance Johnson of Springdale pitched the idea to reduce the property tax millage for 2022. No, Johnson did not have any detailed proposal showing what county services might see reductions. He just thought taxpayers ought to get a break on taxes as he championed what he called a small step toward slowing the growth of government.
Has anyone noticed a level of uncontrolled growth in spending in Washington County government? Where?
Perhaps the fact 2022 is an election year had nothing to do with the proposal. Maybe it's just a poorly planned application of a lower-tax philosophy. However, given the minuscule nature of what taxpayers would save, one could be forgiven for thinking the proposal might have been more about scoring political points than on benefit for the taxpayers.
County Assessor Russell Hill said lowering the millage rate from 4.4 mills to 4.2 mills would save around $8 a year on a $200,000 home.
"You can't buy a Happy Meal for that," Hill said. "The change for the average taxpayer is very insignificant. You would have to be a very large property owner to see much benefit."
Thankfully, most of the other members of the Quorum Court recognized that a spur-of-the-moment proposal to lower taxes was not the most fiscally responsible approach, even if one philosophically agreed with the idea of lower taxes.
Justice of the Peace Bush Pond has been around county government a long time and has seen proposals for reducing taxes before. He said tax rates should have been discussed during the monthslong budget process if changes were going to be considered so that the Quorum Court could evaluate information about the impact on county finances and services to the people of the county.
"You don't just throw that out there at the last minute," Pond said. "This has not been discussed or studied all through this process and the full Quorum Court wasn't involved."
Why, it seems Butch Pond could be an editorial writer if he had such a notion.
Cutting taxes on a whim is a good way to get the county into a financial pinch. We're not saying it's never a good idea, but if it is a good idea, it ought to be one that can be hashed out through collaboration and debate with a clear-eyed view of the fiscal impact the decision will have. It's a shame even six justices of the peace thought it wise to embrace this proposal without the benefit of any information.
The level of taxation is not a small decision. If it is to be made, it needs to be made after serious discussion and analysis, not a last-second proposal that ignores the fiscal impact and gives the public no opportunity to have a say in the matter.