Monday, September 5, 2011

2012 Cooper City Taxation: Is It moral? Is It Good Public Policy

- Bigger % increases on low income families than higher ones?

- Taxing champions --- AGAIN! When people are hurting?
Leads all Broward tax authorities in the tax increases for residents!

- Bad economics--- how are people to increase spending and job
creation locally if the Cooper City government takes more of their
squeezed incomes?

Hard to believe? Yet that is what 4 commission members and some on the staff seem to be supporting.

1. Their tax/fee package will result in those with lower valued homes paying a bigger % increase than those of us with higher valued homes.

A sample of 13 homes shows the following % increases in Cooper City taxes

Market value per Tax Appraiser % Cooper City % increase all other
tax increase Broward govs

$100,000 to $199,999 6.9 (1.8)

$200,000 to $299,999 4.4 (2.1)

$300,000 plus 3.2 (3.1)

So, Cooper City is raising taxes and fees while the others are decreasing them.

Taxing champions AGAIN! AND, hitting the lower income folks hardest.
Taxes include the normal property taxes and the fire assessment “fee”. Re: the
Fire assessment “fee’: to paraphrase Harry Truman.
"If it is on your tax bill, looks like a tax, is collected like a tax and you pay it with the same check, it’s a tax."

This form of taxation is called regressive taxation, where you hit the lower income people by a higher % than those with higher incomes.

I doubt that 5 % of Americans support this or believe it to be just and moral.


2. Bad economic policy. It is a form of Cooper City economic de-stimulus.
We all know the hard times many of our people face. Governments taking more purchasing power out of the hands of consumers will decrease consumer spending and job creation. It will add its bit to our economic problems. You can count on a major fraction of the tax increase resulting in lower local consumer spending, jobs and sales.