The Spokane Record

We read today of an initiative which has been filed with the secretary of state’s office. Seattle Times. The proponents would like to go ahead and gather signatures so that a law they propose would go to the voters for approval. The law which is being proposed is quite interesting. It involves the imposition of a new tax. And, the spending of the money for education and to provide an exemption of smaller businesses from the state’s business and occupation tax. Initiative Measure No. 1077. There are many details but what I have mentioned is enough for now.

The tax is an excise tax. I have never heard of an excise tax on income before. The notion is that if you make a certain amount of money, or beyond a certain amount of money in the case of No. 1077 you are going to pay a tax, an excise. Why is that not simply an income tax?

Who is going to pay the tax? People who are rich in income. The income amount starts at $200,000 for an individual and $400,000 for a couple. More on this at this Seattle Times article.

The initiative is betting on the success of a shear politics. The people who are going to pay the tax will not sign it or vote for it if it gets on the ballot. They are sorely outnumbered by other people who will sign it and who will vote for it. These people are predominantly the group the proponents of the initiative would like to give benefits to – property owners whose property taxes will go down and small business owners and their supporters who will become exempt from business and occupation taxes.

It looks a lot like the hope of the legislation is that the have nots will pass laws so as to get benefits at the expense of the others who have money but less political clout.

This reminds me of a book called the Theory of Social Evolution written in 1913 by Brooks Adams, the great-grand son of our second President, John Adams. The essence of The Theory of Social Evolution can be found in the introduction to the work at Librivox:

He believed that commercial civilizations rise and fall in predictable cycles. First, masses of people draw together in large population centers and engage in commercial activities. As their desire for wealth grows, they discard spiritual and creative values. Their greed leads to distrust and dishonesty, and eventually the society crumbles.

With regard to the initiative – the forces of greed certainly play a role. On the one hand there are those who have money, who have gained the best of the economy, and on the other,  those who do not have money but have superior political strength, those who desire more wealth for themselves by taking it from others.  The initiative, I think, is a form of legitimized theft.

It will be interesting to see how this initiative plays itself out.

Today I did some shopping. I went to a bookstore and bought some books. I paid $59.99 for the books and in addition I paid a sales tax of 8.7% or $5.22. We are used to paying sales taxes in the state of Washington. I was struck by the amount, though. These days I am on a fixed income so I am watching my expenditures.

Next, I went to the grocery store and bought some food — some buns, dog bones, potatoes, sausage – and I got a bag refund of five cents. My bill was $17.47. No taxes, no sales taxes were due. Food is a necessity. People have to have food so there is no tax, at least in Washington and at least for now.

But then walking home from the store I got to thinking. Thinking about taxes – this is where it all fell apart.

I remembered that the city of Spokane, where I live, is going to significantly increase fees for sewer services. My guess is that the cost of my sewer services will go up by about $20 a month. But that’s not the whole of it. My city taxes are also going to go up – up by $5.00.

The city charges a utility tax on sewer services. The tax is $.20 on the dollar. However, since the city also charges a tax on that tax, and then a tax that tax, and then pay tax on that tax, the tax is really $.25 on the dollar. The calls this “grossing up the tax.” The utility tax, really a sales tax, is a 25% sales tax.

How does the city get away with this? It balances its budget by taxing city utility services as high as it possibly can do so without creating a revolution. Right now, my fellow citizens in the city of Spokane must be content to pay the city of Spokane a sales tax of $.25 on the dollar for all city utility services.

When I think of it, I can hardly believe it. What a generous group of people we are – probably half of us would be called poor. I would estimate that over 40% of the 81,000 households in the city of Spokane have an annual income of $35,000 or less. About 22% have incomes of less than $24,000 a year.  We can afford the new expenses, the new taxes, I guess.  Go here.

Mayor Verner is finally coming out with detail regarding the city budget. Her deadline for the proposed budget is a couple of weeks away. She is out speaking about the budget at various city venues. KXLY.

We have elections for three council positions but so far not one candidate has addressed the problems of the city budget. If a candidate says anything it is fluff like belief in a good budget or something about as compelling.

The mayor says she is $7 million short. She probably has to pare the budget by about 5%. There are about 2,200 city employees.

City employees get all of their health care paid for. The city insurance employee plans include medical, dental and eye care. I would estimate that for a single person without children this runs about $750 per month. For a person with, children about $1,200 per month. A person with a partner and children, one’s own and one’s stepchildren, the cost could be well in excess of $2,500 per month. Let us say the average amount per month is $1,100 per employee. That’s $13,200 per year. Given there are about 2,200 employees the city’s health care costs total $29 million per year.

I do not know how many of these employees are employed under general fund expenditures – that is the budget the mayor is talking about. Clearly, a major portion of the general fund budget could be reduced by a lowering of the health insurance benefits packages for employees.

But there is a problem with this. That would mean that the employees of the non-general fund employment units, the various utility departments, would be paid more. They would be paid more because the city has not budget constraints as to them. There are no problems regarding the budgets for the utility departments of the city – garbage, water, sewer. All the city does is to up the rates of service to meet the demand. Oh, have to tell you, the rate once upped includes what in effect is a sales tax of 25% on the amount the people pay for the services.

The mayor and council, to balance the budget of the general fund will probably up the utility tax rate to an even higher amount.

There is no real news about the Spokane City Budget for 2010.  The city website has a page and some information but it looks as though the publication date was about May, 2009.  City of Spokane Budget Page.

The mayor has to present a budget by November 1, 2009.  That will be good for the incumbents and indeed others running for city council.  The very tough decisions the city must make have to do with the budget.  No doubt, if history repeats itself, the city will continue to pay its overly generous benefits and wages.  To do so it will continue the 25% city utility tax (really a sales tax).  This tax is primarily a tax on the poor so that city workers may be paid more.

Bristol Palin’s erstwhile possible step-mother is going to jail.  Spokesman-Review. 

Think of it! We live in a society which imposes grave burdens upon ourselves by putting people in prison for having prescription drugs in their possession. What is the great crime here? (1) not having persmission to have the drugs; 2) wanting to sell the drugs; (3) using the drugs — have you ever used oxycontin? — gives you a slight high, constipates you and causes you to become interested in those colon clease advertisements you see in your email box daily; (4) or (this is it) violation of the ghosts of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union.

For this the government is going to expend, let us say, at least $120,000 to keep the poor woman in jail for two years. My, oh my!

Also, note, there is a budget issue here.  How, pray tell, are we going to finance the necessities of government functions when we use precious resources to put people in jail who are not a threat to society.

 John Roskelley, former Spokane County Commissioner, has written a good Op Ed for the Spokesman-Review concerning the so-called Spokane County Public Safety Sales Tax.  Here it is.  This is a good piece — thanks John Roskelley.

We are in tough times and the times are going to become even tougher. It is time to take stock of what government is and time to eschew notions of what this or that political wind thinks government should be. We are a government of necessary services, not a government of good things.

There is one political party today — it is Government Party. The Government Party in Spokane wants to raise taxes, ignore the core functions of government and go off on spending sprees where it spends so as to buy land and take it off the tax rolls, go in the business of car racing and drag strips, and subsidize the friends of the Government Party.

The answer to our moral dilemma is not to increase taxes, it is to take a hard look at reality and to take care of the core essentials of government with what we have. Seems to me life would be more satisfying in Spokane County if we lived our lives a bit more rigorously, more independently — we do not need a Government Party and with its faddish nostroms.

Envision Spokane  wants the people of Spokane to  pass an amendment to the Spokane City Charter which lays out a so-called  ”bill of rights.”  It has submitted its signatures on its petition for the City Charter amendment to the City of Spokane.  See the Spokesman-Review story.  The proposed amendment is not a bill of rights at all. It is a “bill of benefits” to be provided by  (a) the City of Spokane (b) the people of Spokane as taxpayers, and (c) businesses, banks and property owners.  The bill of benefits provides for enforcement.   This is where the benefit to lawyers and especially the Center for Justice comes into play.  The Ninth Right [sic - "Benefit"] provides:

All rights recognized by the Community Bill of Rights are fundamental, inalienable, and self-executing. The City of Spokane, or any person, neighborhood, or neighborhood council aggrieved by a violation of their rights, or any person seeking to enforce the rights of ecosystems, may enforce these rights. Enforcement actions shall be filed as civil actions in a court of competent jurisdiction, against any person, government, or entity violating these rights, and sufficient legal and equitable relief shall be awarded to remedy the violation, including restoration of a damaged ecosystem. In any action to enforce any Charter right, the court may allow the prevailing plaintiff a reasonable attorney’s fee and expert fees. Corporations and other business entities shall not be deemed to possess any legal rights, privileges, powers, or protections which would enable those entities to avoid the enforcement of these rights, or which would enable them to nullify these rights. If any part or provision of these Charter provisions, or the application of these Charter provisions to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of these Charter provisions, including the application of such part or provisions to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected by such a holding and shall continue in full force and effect. [Emphasis added.]

 The people who will do the enforcement will be lawyers, and, in particular the so-called “Center for Justice.”  Note  the ” prevailing plaintiff a reasonable attorney’s fee and expert fees” may be allowed by a court.  Noter further,   a prevailing defendant is not entitled to attorneys fees and expert fees.

And particularly note this :  “Corporations and other business entities shall not be deemed to possess any legal rights, privileges, powers, or protections which would enable those entities to avoid the enforcement of these rights, or which would enable them to nullify these rights.”

So who is advancing the bill of benefits?  It no one other than Jim Sheehan who contributed $10,000 of the $11,000 raised by Envision Spokane.  And what was this money for?  Well, one can surmise it was for the signature gathering effort.

And who is Jim Sheehan.  He is a lawyer who while working in the office of the Spokane Public Defender became fabulously wealthy when a relative died leaving him millions.  Mr. Sheehan started a law firm entitled The Center for Justice.  The Center for Justice is funded by Mr. Sheehan to the tune of $1 million per year.  Mr. Sheehan would like to make the “law firm” self-sustaining.  This is where the Ninth item in the Bill of Rights [Benefits] comes into play.

What kind of government can we really have.  A government for needed services or a government for “good things”?

It is quite simple, what sort of government do we want, can we want, can we really have? A government which provides necessary services common to all which cannot be provided by private enterprise? Or, a government generally devoted to a host of “good things.”

The government of services can live within its means. There is a possibility the people, rich and poor, can be fairly taxed to provide for it. 

The government of good things cannot live within its means.  There is no end, no limit, to what is thought to be good things.  And no limit to the claim for tax revenue.  The notion of what is good changes like the weather. As does the claim for ever higher taxes.