October 6, 2005 

WRTA

Brown Shoes Diary

A Conversation with Commissioner Eichelberger

Commissioner Eichelberger took notice of my recent editorial on WRTA ("Take A Hike, Eiche", 9/28/2005) and phoned me to talk about it.  It was a delightful conversation for me because the Commissioner was pleasant, knowledgeable, and respectful.  And in the final analysis I think we understood that the real difference between us is one of priorities.

The commissioner pointed out that the county budget is "tight", that unfunded mandates from Harrisburg are making it between difficult and impossible to balance the budget, and that the property tax is a very restrictive source of revenue for the county.  I agree with him on all of that, but I see the restrictive nature of the property tax as a plus, not a minus.

What the commissioner sees as the solution to the county's fiscal problems is more taxing power--specifically, he wants the county to be able to institute additional sales taxes and/or income taxes on its citizens.  As a side part of this plan, he would institute property tax "fairness".  (See my essay on WRTA "The Real Reason for Property Tax Reduction", 9/26/2005, to understand what sideshow is about.)  I have a better idea to solve this problem and this is where our difference in priorities makes itself known.

There is no truth I'm more sure of than that Americans and Pennsylvanians are overtaxed at all levels of government. I have seen findings that governments at all levels tax more than 40% of the earnings of American citizens.  It's easy to see how this happens.  Social security, Medicare, the federal government, the state government, our municipal government and our school district all tax our income.  Taxes are levied on businesses, but guess who pays those taxes?  Not the businesses, that's just one of the costs they pass on to their customers.  Your phone bill is taxed, your cable bill is taxed, every gallon of gasoline you buy is taxed and these are just some of the excise taxes you're hit with.  In Pennsylvania we've found it proper to put a 6% sales tax on every non-necessity that's purchase.  If the founders of our state and country are facing right side up in their graves, it's only because they've turned over so many times they have no sense of up and down.

Here is the bottom line--government deserves not one more dollar from us and needs to manage to do with a lot less.  It amazes me that not one government official, not one politician will take this stand.  Their priorities are not those of the productive people and freedom lovers in society.

So what' my better idea for our county's budget impending shortfall?  Instead of asking Harrisburg for the power to drain our pockets further, our county officials should DEMAND that our county get some share of the state sales and income taxes we are already paying.  That will mean that the state government will have to do with less, but, trust me, they are already taking way too much.

Whenever a government at any level has a budget crisis, the only question it has to ask is whether it will deal with the crisis as its citizens deal with their lives (set priorities, make choices) or pass the decision-making and sacrifice on to its citizens.  As I told the Commissioner, the citizens of Blair County have been and are sacrificing far more than they should.  It's time somebody reigns in our bloated, burdensome, and oppressive governments of all levels.  I invite  Commissioner Eichelberger and every other government official to recognize the truth that citizens are greatly over-taxed and take a stand on behalf of the most abused people in our society--taxpayers.