In Support of House Bill No 830 relating food and beverage tax.
To: Members of House Finance Subcommittee #1
From: Greg Crider, Mount Vernon, VA
I request that you support HB 830. Fairfax County needs a more diverse revenue base. Our homeowners are carrying an unfair share of the tax burden by continuously being asked (i.e, forced) to contribute about 2/3 of the County’s revenue. Even if you personally do not agree with a “meals tax”, I strongly urge you to support it.
Here’s the reason why. For FAIRNESS. Many homeowners, like myself and my neighbors, are retired. We live on much reduced incomes which now-a-days does not go very far in affluent Fairfax County. But we pay the same property taxes, as our neighbors who: 1) mostly have two incomes; 2) have the opportunity to increase their income without getting another job; and 3) often have school age children.
Fairfax County needs equal taxing authority of cities and counties, like Arlington County. In Fairfax, nearly 80% of our revenue must come from property taxes (homes & cars). To be fair, a tax should also be based on the taxpayer’s ability to pay. That is not the case with real estate taxes. The plight of homeowners, like me and my neighbors, who are retired also needs to be considered. We are: 1) living on fixed or much reduced incomes in affluent Fairfax County; 2) consuming much less services than we pay for; and 3) often are single or widowed. Every year, I see our residents go through the “battle over the budget” before our Board of Supervisors to divide up the County’s revenue. No matter who wins, we pay equally with our neighbors and continue to be taxed unfairly.
While this bill may not be the ideal solution to diversify our revenue, I ask you support it and send it on for further debate within the General Assembly. If nothing else, it will raise the level of awareness to the plight of retired homeowners like me and my neighbors.
As Fairfax County Chairman Bulova said in her testimony before our delegation on January 9, 2010: “If the state cannot, and will not, ensure the quality of life that Fairfax County is known for - the same quality of life that brings major Fortune 500 companies to the County each year, putting income tax revenue into the State coffers - then at least allow us to diversify our revenues, so that we are not so dependent on fluctuations in the real estate market.”
We should all be looking ahead to enjoy our retirement years – in our homes.
Members of House Finance Subcommittee #1
Del Ben Cline
Del Robert Orrock
Del Mark Cole
Del Tom Gear
Del Bob Marshall
Del Matthew Lohr
Del Tag Greason
Del Joe Johnson
Del Albert Pollard
Del David Englin
Del Robin Abbott
Patrons
Del Scott Surovell
Del David Englin
Del Kaye Kory
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Before anything else, I want to say that I would vote for a food and beverage tax in Fairfax County.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do take some exception with the idea that the argument behind this is that this is "fair" for those who are retired. For instance, many of us (I'm 40) who bought homes in Fairfax County purchased them from people who were retired. (Our former owner had lived in my home for 30+ years.) He and his family made a healthy profit (understatement) on the home, which my family, given the crashing housing market, isn't likely to realize in the foreseeable future.
Second, most people my age are working two jobs simply to get by. Longer hours at work translate into looking for ways to get more hours out of a day (something we look forward to in our own retirement!) and thus the food and beverage tax most likely falls most unfairly on us.
Third, while my property taxes may not be of immediate and local benefit to retirees, my federal taxes certainly do, often at the expense of my own generation and the one to come. (There was a report in the NYT about how federal dollars are twice as likely to go into programs for those over 65 than to those under 18.)
Again, I'm someone who is in support of the Food and Beverage Tax, but for very different reasons. I just hope our representatives in Richmond raise our visibility too!