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I do wonder how many of those people who work in DC and live in MD/VA do so because they can't afford to live in a safe part of DC...
Most work in DC simply because that's where the work location their company has established is located. I've been in the area for 26 years working for various contractors. I prefer to live in Virginia but at several times have had assignments that had me located in DC or Maryland. The nature of my profession means that I move around regularly. To try and live near work is absurd when work keeps moving every few years. My longest stint at one place was 7 years near L'Enfant in SW. I think the quality of life is higher in Virginia and now that I have a family, it's where I prefer my child to grow up. I can afford to live in DC should I choose to, but from everything I've seen over the years, including the way DC government operates, treats it's citizens, operates the schools, runs services such the DMV and public health system, from a residental POV, it's a cess pool characterized by poor management, corruption, ineptitude, and an environment that breeds poverty and crime in a never ending cycle. While we may not have 'wide open spaces' living in PWC, it's a far superior environment for living things. My wife commutes to DC as that's where her Virginia-based company has an office for her current assignment. But she feels as I do about the city and spends as little money as possible there.
Yet, that federal government gobbles up DC money when our police escort motorcades or secure government events.
That's more than balanced out by how much the Federal government has to pay to manage the justice system in DC, in particular Superior and District court, two massive monuments of money-sucking perpetual fail. The problem is not the periphery sucking DC dry, it's more the opposite. Too many thugs on drugs suck up all the services and money just to create more generations of leeches. A majority of the money is being spent to subsidize the criminality of a minority of people.
The term 'commuter tax' is deliberately exaggerated. It is only a penalty against District government workers who don't live in the district. Pretty much every other municipality in the country has this same policy.
I love this idea and the idea of a commuter tax. Working hard, I have a question for you. If you have a heart attack on K Street will Fairfax County rush in to save your life or DC?
also don't forgot how many high earners who live in DC work in Fairfax County but don't pay VA taxes
Yes, some do commute out of the District for work. By happenstance, all of the jobs I've taken since moving to DC have been in MD.
Yet, I sincerely doubt that 70% of Fairfax's workers pay taxes elsewhere (as was the case in DC in 2000). The vast majority of DC workers live outside the city's borders.
All the city is saying is that if you want to be paid by the District of Columbia, you should live here. Contractors, private sector employees are all exempt from this proposal.
The term 'commuter tax' is deliberately exaggerated. It is only a penalty against District government workers who don't live in the district. Pretty much every other municipality in the country has this same policy.
Many cities institute these type of policies. Why should DC be any different.
Actually virtually all other jurisdictions tax income on where it's earned. If you work in New York City, you pay taxes to New York, regardless of where you live. DC's situation is due to it's position as a plantation run by and for Congressmen.
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