Monies actually used to trickle down from the federal government to the states for infrastructure, roads, bridges, water and sewer systems, education, emergency, police and fire departments, etc.
If you don’t pay it to the federal government or to the state, you will have to pay it locally in your real estate tax. When that happens, only the wealthier towns and cities will benefit.
It is interesting to note that the extremely rich among us do not seem to argue about their real estate taxes being higher. All a town’s residents end up paying the same mill rate on their homes. It’s the democratic way.
However, when it comes to supporting their country or state, the wealthy seem to do anything to get out of paying income taxes. They should not be above it all. The middle class basically has nowhere to hide, nor do we qualify for special tax loopholes.
Tax returns can reveal quite a lot. We now have one presidential contender who has released several years of her tax returns and the other who refuses to. Is he hiding the fact that he pays no taxes? Does he pay foreign taxes on investments and to what countries? Who does he pay interest to?
As Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.”
Linda Boardman
Cape Porpoise
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