Charlottesville radio host Rob Schilling makes an interesting case against the three ballot measures that Virginians will have a chance to vote on next week. He calls them “…bad news for liberty loving Virginians, and if passed, they will result in greater state control over our everyday lives.”
It’s enough to make one believe the state intends to take away our guns, liquor and SUVs. But it’s really something far more subtle: it’s a case of the state seeking to pull heartstrings and appear magnanimous to some while sticking everyone else with the bill.
The first two measures deal with property taxes. Amendments 1 reads:
Shall Section 6 of Article X of the Constitution of Virginia be amended to authorize legislation that will permit localities to establish their own income or financial worth limitations for purposes of granting property tax relief for homeowners not less than 65 years of age or permanently and totally disabled?
Amendment 2 reads:
Shall the Constitution be amended to require the General Assembly to provide a real property tax exemption for the principal residence of a veteran, or his or her surviving spouse, if the veteran has a 100 percent service-connected, permanent, and total disability?
I can see Schilling’s argument against these otherwise harmless-sounding measures. What sort of person wouldn’t want to give a bit of tax relief to those who are disabled, particularly disabled veterans?
Schilling says we all should be against the idea:
Virginians would be unwise to allow their system of property taxation to emulate the federal model of progressive income taxation with its designated “winners and losers” and special “protected” classes.
It’s the sort of argument that loses libertarians friends…Grandpa doesn’t need a tax break, even if he did lose an arm in the Battle of the Marne, because it does violence to the idea of equitable taxation.
But let’s think of it this way: Grandpa gets relief. Everyone feels good about it. Right up until their next (higher) property tax bill arrives in the mail. If the state is genuinely concerned about property taxes, then it ought to place a measure on the ballot providing relief for everyone – not just a favored few.
The third ballot question asks whether the state should increase the size of the rainy day fund:
Shall Section 8 of Article X of the Constitution of Virginia be amended to increase the permissible size of the Revenue Stabilization Fund (also known as the “rainy day fund”) from 10 percent to 15 percent of the Commonwealth’s average annual tax revenues derived from income and retail sales taxes for the preceding three fiscal years?
Rainy day funds are good. They keep the state from spending every dime it collects during booming economic times. They also act as piggy banks for the lean times, which allows it to cover shortfalls (always and ever for critical services) as thus avoid budget cuts.
But the rainy day fund also acts as crutch. Bad times ahead? Hey, let’s tap the rainy day fund so we can avoid making even harder choices that might get the voters upset! And if the fund is even bigger, well, sakes alive, the chance of those unwashed masses getting riled up becomes even smaller.
A far better use of surplus funds would be for the state to rebate the entire balance to taxpayers — who have far better uses for their own money than watching the state keep it all, while hiding a portion of it under a mattress (to be spent later).
But I suspect this one will pass, too, as the semblance of prudence, rather than its practice, is what wins votes and keeps incumbents happy.
