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I wish I had gone to the Manchester School budget meeting yesterday to support the layoffs of 70 teachers and to suggest at least doubling that number (or making other cuts). My jaw almost dropped to the floor when I heard their budget was something like $150 million!
Are you kidding me? Do these sob stories from government worker hacks work on anyone anymore?
I can't think of one thing that would cause me to support a single cent in tax increase. Until government shrinks by 90% save the sob stories.
I agree-government shrinking by 90% would be a good start in getting this state and this country headed back in the right direction.
I'd be happy with capping current expenditures and targeting very specific budget items for cuts with a top level goal each year. I'd also provide a means to award the actual people doing the work/finding the cost reductions.
A good example would be lowering school budgets 5% per pupil...but with no reduced services...having a program that gives a REAL incentive for finding a way to do things more efficiently. For example: if two school purchasing agents collaborate on text-book buys and collectively save the two districts $150,000...then what's wrong with giving each employee $1,500...or even $15,000 that first year? It's a net savings to the tax-payer for a good idea and it establishes a culture of efficiency and continual innovation.
I once belonged to an organization where $XX million dollars/year was saved by an idea of a 24 year old maintenance tech...we gave him $XX k. The next year we got 4 more good ideas...they weren't as dramatic...but they all saved over $X M/year...the next year we got 15 ideas...and so on. This repetitive improvement process created a ridiculously efficient process. Obviously as time goes on the impact of the ideas becomes less dramatic...but before we reached the point where the cost of the idea exceeded the benefit...total operating costs were reduced over 30%...30%!!! Sure we handed out some bonuses...but they were chump-changed compared to the savings.
I missed this one in the article: Boston senator Tolman said this tax increase will allow Massachusetts to have more beds to treat heroin addicts. Ok.....so all the hard woking people of Mass need to see close to one billion dollars in new taxes to make sure there are enogh beds for addicts and drug dealers.....do I have that right ?
Last edited by Brave Stranger; 05-20-2009 at 01:19 PM..
The Massachusetts suicide experiment continues. This is why it's of utmost importance that we rid ourselves in the next election of the Massachusetts-style government that has taken root in NH. The ONLY thing that matters to these democrat hacks in Mass & NH is getting your money in their hands. Some states have a 10% sales tax out west ! They never stop.....and they never cut spending. Aside from Mass bringing there sales tax to 6.25% they are also going to extend their sales tax to alcohol. I feel bad for the working people of Mass. You're welcome up here to spend your money
There is not yet anything in the Massachusetts forum taking about these new taxes.......a combination of apathy & corruption has taken the fight out of those people. I don't want this kind of future for NH.
What about New Hampshire PROPERTY taxes? They are enough to knock your socks off Give me higher sales tax any day...you can choose not to buy too much, but you can't NOT pay your prop taxes!
and my opinion about taxes is just the opposite - I would rather pay higher property taxes than county/state/fed considering local taxes more directly affect the quality of life in my town - once that is gone it is nearly impossible to regain - as opposed to county/state/fed taxes intended for any number of ridiculous programs I would oppose but would be forced to fund. It's a philosophical thing, really. I cannot spend a dime on something I oppose without anger at being forced to do so - but would gladly spend to preserve my town and quality of life for my family.
What about New Hampshire PROPERTY taxes? They are enough to knock your socks off Give me higher sales tax any day...you can choose not to buy too much, but you can't NOT pay your prop taxes!
When you look at taxes state by state it's wise to
understand that what matters is the total tax burden. NH has the lowest tax burden in the USA......Massachusetts has one of the highest. Property taxes are deductable, so yes......give me the NH property tax as opposed to the Massachusetts income tax, sales tax, capital gains tax, and death taxes......should I go on ? Also, the better towns in Massachusetts like Belmont, Lexington, Concord all have property taxes as high as most NH towns. And you do know that home insurance and car insurance is about 50% cheaper up here....right ? This whole NH property tax thing is a canard.
This is not personal.......but it's soooooo frustrating to see people not understand that just because this one tax in NH is higher than the national average that NH has a bad tax situation. It's just untrue. What I save on car & house insurance ALONE runs into the thousands. It's ALL about "total tax burden" not just about property taxes. It's also about quality of life, but that's for another thread Read Lisa g's post about NH local control. In NH our property taxes stay local. That's a big deal up here.
Last edited by Brave Stranger; 05-21-2009 at 10:57 PM..
When you look at taxes state by state it's wise to
understand that what matters is the total tax burden. NH has the lowest tax burden in the USA......Massachusetts has one of the highest. Property taxes are deductable, so yes......give me the NH property tax as opposed to the Massachusetts income tax, sales tax, capital gains tax, and death taxes......should I go on ? Also, the better towns in Massachusetts like Belmont, Lexington, Concord all have property taxes as high as most NH towns. And you do know that home insurance and car insurance is about 50% cheaper up here....right ? This whole NH property tax thing is a canard.
NH is consistently in the top 5 for lowest tax burden, but not #1. Also, that is for an AVERAGE tax payer. Your mileage may vary. E.g., If you're a 75 yr old widow living in your family home of 50 years on a small, fixed pension then your tax burden will be very high if your home is worth more than a modest amount. As people on this board have said before: NH is a VERY nice state to live in if you're middle-income up.
What about New Hampshire PROPERTY taxes? They are enough to knock your socks off Give me higher sales tax any day...you can choose not to buy too much, but you can't NOT pay your prop taxes!
What about New Hampshire PROPERTY taxes? They are enough to knock your socks off Give me higher sales tax any day...you can choose not to buy too much, but you can't NOT pay your prop taxes!
Are our taxes really that high? We shopped in both states before buying last June and here was the comparison we found with the MAJOR cost differences indicated (income tax was not one of them since we work in MA), these are REAL numbers:
MA Home:
1800 square foot home, 35 minute commute, .5 acres, good schools/town
Taxes: $5600
Car Insurance: $3400
Sales Tax: 5% (at the time)
Ok, so it ended up being $200 cheaper per year to live in NH when you accounted for location related expenses. I also considered gasoline but the lower price in NH offset the slightly higher mileage commute.
It's important to note that we live (in NH) in one of the higher property tax rate towns as well; so this wasn't a "cheap" town either.
Property taxes are also a more stable form of revenue and they also provide a check/balance of sorts, reasoning:
- Property taxes are stable (ie, tons of people don't just suddenly leave) so a town can do better long term planning. Long term planning & resource stability is KEY to efficiency.
- Property taxes are very direct. You get a "your bill is this". It allows residents to very plainly see when their taxes go up and how EXACTLY it impacts them; as a result it provides a better incentive for resident involvement in government.
- Lastly, most towns have property tax adjustments for the elderly and sometimes for the poor. Additionally during a hard time residents may be able to workout a "payment plan" with their town. Also- residents have a very good idea of what their tax bill is going to be (barring rare exceptions), it easier to estimate future property taxes than to estimate future expenditures for goods & services.
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Give me higher sales tax any day...you can choose not to buy too much, but you can't NOT pay your prop taxes!
