Today in 1776, the delegates in the Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence, which listed many grievances against King George III, including the ability to tax the 13 colonies without representation in Parliament.
It is now 235 years later and taxation with representation brings about many discussions on what should be taxed, by how much and how much those taxes are a two-edged sword in providing important governmental services on one side of the blade, with the other side being the burdens they can place on individuals and businesses when they become excessive.
Ronald L. Boltz, Pine Grove, a member of Schuylkill County Conservatives, said that while taxes are necessary, they are a major burden to taxpayers nationwide.
"Unfortunately, fewer and fewer people are bearing that burden and more and more people seem to be benefiting from those taxes that other people are forced to pay," said Boltz. "A perfect example is the property tax, with the overwhelming largest portion being the school property tax. It is also the largest revenue for the school districts. There are people who have no children and are paying the school property tax, while there are others who are not paying school property taxes who have children in the schools."
Boltz said school districts have federal and state mandates to provide programs with no corresponding funding, which requires them to get the funding from local taxpayers directly.
"Other taxes pose the same problems. It seems everywhere you turn there's tax after tax after tax, which I don't think our Founding Fathers really wanted for this country," Boltz said. "In fact, there wasn't an income tax in the country until 1913."
The federal income tax was authorized by the Sixteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Congress had enacted a flat income tax in 1894, but it was ruled to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
Small, but ...
Boltz said that some elected officials look at new taxes or increases in current ones as not having much of an effect, especially when the increases are small.
"It doesn't seem as though government ever puts its own brakes on itself. I believe that really needs to start, and, in fact, I think we need to reverse this trend," said Boltz.
Peter R. Grahame, Ph.D., assistant professor of sociology at Penn State Schuylkill Campus, said taxes are a necessary part of a modern society, and as part of that society, people have a responsibility to others in that society.
"Living in a civilized society requires a variety of public goods that are not best bought and sold by individuals in the marketplace," said Grahame. " Think of roads and schools. Living in a modern society like the U.S. involves an incredible range of such public goods."
Short-sighted attitude?
Grahame said people do have an interest in helping at a local level, but not all look to assist others at a distance as a responsibility.
"Americans are highly individualistic, and not inclined to be interested in the needs of others living at some distance from them," said Grahame. "Thus they feel they don't want to help pay for schools in the poor city next to their affluent suburb. They don't want to help pay for a bridge they never use, and so on. Recall also that a lot of taxes are collected locally. For example, cities have seen their tax base decline as industries left and populations shrank."
Grahame said the support through taxes in distant communities and regions does have an impact at a local level.
"This short-sighted attitude towards public responsibility ignores the fact that poor schools, roads, and other public goods create a range of social problems that affect everyone, regardless of where they are living. The consequences are not local," said Grahame. "It is also my understanding that Americans pay lower taxes overall than people in most other developed countries. Finally, the wealthiest Americans are not paying their share and are able to manipulate the political process to avoid making a contribution in proportion to the enormous benefits they derive from the society."
Within the past few days, Pennsylvania has a new budget that includes no increase in taxes. and cutting government spending by more than $1 billion. State Sen. David G. Argall, R-29, said balancing taxing and spending is a intricate process. For him, it is the input he receives from the public, which pays the taxes and receives the benefits, that helps in the decision process.
"I really value the input I get at my town hall breakfast meetings. We do those across the district I represent. In the last year, people have been very clear at those meetings that they do not want state government to raise their taxes," said Argall. "This has been a terrible recession and would have been the worst time to raise the state income tax."
Argall brought up the school property tax issue, saying that it is something that must be dealt with.
"We need to make the system more fair and more modern. The way we fund our public schools is stuck in the mid-19th century," said Argall.