Editor:
First, I agree with Joy Moritz who stated in her letter that our taxes are too high.
There are two reasons for that. One is the tax base. Homes in Liberty County on average are less expensive compared to the houses in Richmond Hill as an example.
If there is a family of four living in a $300,000 house, they require the same government services as the same family living in a 150,000 house. Liberty County has not catered to those who can afford to have a more expensive home. In my own case my wife and I downsized our housing and moved home to Liberty County. We sold our 3,200 square foot. Richmond Hill house for a little over $420,000, and we bought a 1,144 square foot $152,000 house in Liberty County.
Our tax bill on the house in Richmond Hill was $2,900. Our tax bill on our much smaller house in Liberty County is $2,200. A little math: 150/420 = X/29.
X represents what the tax would be in Liberty County if it were proportional to our Richmond Hill taxes. After a bit of arithmetic X = 10.5. Which indicates to be proportional our tax in Liberty County should be $1,050. Big difference, $1,050 vs. $2,200.
The second is given our lower tax base it behooves our government to work to use our tax money as efficiently as possible. ALL governments tend not to do that. They are, after all, spending other people’s money.
Government is not run as a business that has to use its resources as efficiently as possible in order to show a profit to continue as a business.
An example: Medicare Advantage plans compared to traditional Medicare. You can get many more benefits for your money with these plans because they are run like a business. They take the same dollar, give you more for it, and make a profit.
Our Country’s founders tried to set up a system that would work. They did a great job, but even with that they failed to prevent excessive government spending. All governments tend to get bigger. The incentives almost guarantee it. I doubt this will ever be turned around unless we can prevail upon successful business people to sacrifice income for a while to run our governments like a business.
George Grant, Midway
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