State, local income taxes, property taxes and sales tax all hit record highs in 2017. It is easy to understand why. More people are employed, businesses are growing, new homes are being built, and people are spending money. Yet even with all this, governments want more. They have an insatiable appetite for money, our money. There is never enough.
They build facilities which need maintenance. They permit housing developments without the infrastructure to support them. They give tax breaks to encourage more development which then saps services. They run buses with no passengers and buy fleets of higher-priced vehicles. The ways to cut spending are numerous and obvious.
As voters and citizens, we must not be fooled by the emotional pleas. Take a good look at budgets, both income and expenses. I bet you'll find, historically, government will spend whatever it takes in and ask for more - more school taxes, more local sales taxes, higher property taxes. Well, guess what? This economy has given them all of those just by being vital.
And when the next downswing happens (and it will), there won't be a penny saved and they'll be crying for more.
